It was a date long forgotten by the passing of time, yet part of what was talked about that day still becomes relevant from time to time. After all, it was the day that Aesop, the storytelling slave, once again told the story of the hardworking ant and the playful but lazy grasshopper. In a hundred years, this story of the “Ant and the Grasshopper” will become one of the most well-known of the Aesopica, or the commonly known term, Aesop’s Fables. In the million years that follow, thousands of people will follow what Aesop has done, and that is to tell fables.
Fabulists, are what we call people who tell fables. A fable is a literary genre that is defined as a succinct fictional story that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, and other objects. Of course, these stories are always imagined, but in their DNA is a moral lesson that is the crux of the story. More often than not, this moral is explicitly spelled out as a concise maxim or saying. In the times since Aesop, thousands upon thousands have followed in his footsteps. From Caroleann Rice and her different stories describing the adventures of Solomon the Snail to Jon Scieszka of “The Stinky Cheese Men and Other Fairly Stupid Tales.” These people have kept the value of the fable alive well into the modern era.
The Anatomy of a Fable
As already mentioned above, fables are stories that usually feature animals, things, and other inanimate objects to tell stories that carry with them important lessons to live by in the daily life. These lessons are usually included at the end of the fable to really and indeed drive the lesson home. Some of the more famous lessons from a fable include “To never make fun of those who are working hard” From” The Ant and the Grasshopper” and “Accept one another no matter how different we might appear” from The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Andersen, another well-known fabulist himself. These lessons are usually told to kids of a younger age for them to really soak in these lessons.
All in all, the fable has four central characteristics. These include the symbolism, the anthropomorphization, the lessons, and the humor.
Symbolism
Symbolism in a fable is the characters of the fable who, along with their adventures and misadventures of the story, slowly become representatives of human nature and existence.
Anthropomorphization
Now say that without slowing down! Anthropomorphization is what makes characters of the fable come alive. The animals and even inanimate objects (i.e., the Fox, the wind, and the sun) are given human qualities through this process. The anthropomorphization of characters since the time of Aesop has given some specific animal traits that have become analogous to them. The snake is treacherous, the owl is wise, the Fox is cunning, the ants are hardworking, and the lion is brave. These traits have long been cemented because of the constant retelling of the fables.
Lessons
Now, fables are not complete without their lessons. These are the main reasons fables are told and retold ever since the beginning. More often than not, these lessons are told explicitly at the end of the fable. A good example is this lesson from The Lion and the Mouse, which implies that “mercy brings its reward” and “no creature is ever so insignificant that it cannot help a greater.”
Humor
No matter how serious, fables have often described that life and the folly of human existence is a funny nature. Thus fables often are funny short stories to serve as a reflection of this fact. It is the main reason why fables are so enjoyable and not so preachy, especially during those times. It might even be the reason why fables are so often retold in the first place, simply because they are enjoyable.
Fables are a literary genre that has been told since forever. As such, they are timeless, and this timelessness allowed them to carry over the lessons that they tell. Yes, all fables carry an inherent lesson that usually reflects human behavior.
Although fables and parables sound the same, fables are different. The main characters and players in the fable are usually animals or inanimate objects that are anthropomorphized to give them human characteristics.
Alex Writes 