Fable

Fable is a literary genre that is characterized by brief fictional stories that often feature anthropomorphized animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature which illustrate a moral lesson or a practical advice.

Definition

A fable is a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature which are anthropomorphized (given human qualities such as verbal communication), and that illustrates or leads to an interpretation of a moral lesson (a "moral"), which may at the end be added explicitly in a pithy maxim.

History

The fable is one of the most enduring forms of folk literature, spread abroad, modern researchers agree, less by literary anthologies than by oral transmission. Fables can be found in the literature of almost every country.

Characteristics

A fable differs from a parable in that the latter excludes animals, plants, inanimate objects, and forces of nature as actors that assume speech and other powers of humankind.

Notable Fables

Some of the most notable fables include those written by Aesop, a slave and storyteller who lived in Ancient Greece between 620 and 564 BCE. His fables, known as Aesop's Fables, have been translated into many languages and remain popular to this day.

See Also

• Aesop's Fables
• Parable
• Folk literature

References

Fable Resources
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