Fables — Definition, Characteristics, and Examples
What is a fable?
A fable is a fictional story with a direct and clear moral. Fables place anthropomorphized animals in simple conflicts to illustrate general truths, rules of conduct, or appropriate behaviors. By using animals as main characters, fabulists make the stories more appealing to younger audiences, making the lessons more relevant.
Aesop’s fables are some of the most popular fables. Aesop was believed to be an ancient Greek slave and storyteller around the 6th century BCE. His stories have become the standard form of fables, influencing numerous writers and educating countless children. His fables have been simplified into well-known sayings (e.g., “slow and steady wins the race.”).
Fables are related to folktales and fairy tales. All have an oral tradition, but folktales do not have an author like fables, and fairy tales are meant to entertain and do not usually have a lesson.
Characteristics of a fable
Fables typically incorporate the following characteristics:
Fables are typically short stories whose purpose is to provide a direct moral.
The structure of a fable includes a short exposition (introduction of characters and setting), simple conflict, and quick resolution.
Fables can have the form of either verse or prose.
The lessons fables teach are meant to be universal; therefore, they are geared toward a general audience.
Fables typically have a humorous tone in illustrating humans’ foolish thoughts and actions.
The conflicts the animals experience in a fable symbolize human behavior, often providing a critique of the way people act.
There is usually a third-person narrator who does not directly participate in the story’s action.
The characters in a fable are often anthropomorphic animals or non-human beings displaying literal traits and mimicking the behavior of humans. There are usually only two to three characters.
Every fable contains a moral or lesson meant to teach right from wrong, provide guidance on appropriate behavior, or offer a general truth. The moral of the story often revolves around vices such as greed, envy, pride, gluttony, etc.
Fable examples
Examples of some famous fables include “The Tortoise and the Hare,” “The Goose and the Golden Egg,” and “The Flies and the Honey”:
| Fable | Summary | Moral |
|---|---|---|
| “The Tortoise and the Hare” | A rabbit challenges a turtle to a race. Being overly confident, the rabbit takes a nap during the competition, which allows the turtle to win. | “Slow and steady wins the race.” |
| “The Lion and the Mouse” | A mouse caught by a lion begs to be freed; if he does, the mouse will one day repay the lion. The lion was caught in a hunter’s trap days later, and the mouse helped him escape. | “Kindness is never wasted.” |
| “The Ants and the Grasshopper” | As a group of ants gathered food to prepare for the winter, a grasshopper simply relaxed and played his fiddle. When winter came, the ants had food while the grasshopper almost starved. | “There’s a time for work and a time for play.” |
| “The Goose and the Golden Egg” | A goose would lay one golden egg a day for a countryman who sold them. The man became impatient because he only got one egg each day. He kills the goose, thinking he will collect all of the golden eggs within it. However, there were none. | "Those who have plenty want more and so lose all they have." |
| “The Flies and the Honey” | A group of flies attracted to a honey pot began to gorge themselves even though they were not invited. However, the flies became stuck in the honey and could not escape. | “It is possible to have too much of a good thing.” |
Modern-day fables include George Orwell’s Animal Farm and Richard Bach’s Jonathan Livingston Seagull.
Parable vs. fable
Parables and fables have similar purposes – to tell a story that teaches a moral lesson. However, the two genres differ in how they present that lesson:
| Parable | Fable | |
|---|---|---|
Characters
| Humans |
Animals |
|
Foundation
| Religious |
Secular |
|
Setting
| Real-World |
Imaginary World |
|
Lessons
| Spiritual |
Ethical |
|
Moral
| Implicit |
Explicit |
|