Fables, parables, and tales: narrative forms and purposes

Fables/Parables/Tales

Fable is a short moral story that usually includes animal characters that act like humans and carry an important message. At the end of every fable there is a "moral of the story." When one talks about fables the first thing that comes to mind is the name "Aesop." Aesop has written many fables that have good moral lessons in them. Although not much is known about Aesop, we learn about him through the history of Herodotus. During those days people were greatly influenced by fables and tales and it seems that Aesop was a great teller of tales. Herodotus and Aristophanes along with the Roman, Byzantine and Medieval writers all either used his fables in their own works or reproduced them in their own unique writing style. These stories were narrated to adults and especially children to pass on ideas and morals of the Greek. It is also said that when Aesop traveled to Athens during the reign of Peisistratus, he related the fable of The Frogs asking for a King in an attempt to deter the citizens from attempting a change of ruler. Hence it can be seen that Aesop used his fables to convey messages and morality lessons to the masses. Today fables are used widely in schools where children read them and lessons on morality are introduced to them thus developing their character.

Although character education is quite broad in scope and is difficult to define, it is as old as education itself. From the very beginning of the Western civilization, character education was done with the help of stories. Stories have served as the vehicle to transmit culture, history, social and ethical values. This was done through means like fables and parables. For example in the story "The Camel and his Friends" children learn a few good things about choosing the right kind of people as friends. This can instill good values that may leave a lasting impression. Even today such a vehicle is used to transmit such values, culture and moral lessons to the children. An important part in character development is to have a good idea about what is right and what is wrong. The time to introduce such morals is when a person is young so as to ensure that he bases his life on such morals. Fables are a good way to teach children what good morals are. Further fables also teach children lessons like sometimes it is better to use brain than brawn. This gives the youth an idea that at times one should solve a problem using his wisdom rather than raw strength.

Fables have been an important part in a child's development and influence their behavior. They are also effective in influencing the way children think as they read it over and over again and this repetition combined with their imagination makes it one of the best ways to influence their thinking. The whole aim of a fable is to create a laugh but yet, under the laughter the fable conveys an instruction. Fables are designed to teach a lesson in morality or judgment. The lessons are implied within the fable itself.

The construction of a fable pays particular attention to the narration itself, the deduction of the moral and a careful maintenance of the individual characteristics of the personages introduced into it. The narration itself relates to a simple action and is not over laden with details. Further there are not a variety of circumstances and is always precise to the point. The moral lesson is so simple and plain that it becomes very easy for a person to deduce it the way it is supposed to be deduced without any room for misinterpretations or distortions. For example in the story "The appointment in Sammara," we learn that it is fruitless to try to escape death as it has its own way of finding us.

Animals have always been an important part of fables. It is also an important thing to note that the animals used in fables always reflect their natural attributes, for example the fox is always shown to be cunning (as we see in 'Camel and his friends) whereas the lion is always shown bold and noble and the hare is always the timid one.