Aesop's Fables

"Aesop's Fables" is a book of stories and the characters are mostly animals and sometimes plants. Even though the characters aren't humans they have human virtues and flaws, act and talk like people.

Every fable has a lesson, and people can relate to the characters. All of the events in the stories are linked to real life events, and they carry the moral of the story. The storytelling is short and has no descriptions or dialogues, and the author states out the most important information for the plot.

Book Summary

Eagle and the Fox

Place: unspecified, but we could conclude that they are in a forest

Time: unspecified

Eagle and the fox made a pact to live together. They promised each other to live in peace. The eagle had a nest on a tree, and the fox made its home in the bushes near the tree. The fox had baby foxes and then went hunting. The eagle came and took the baby foxes and gave them to his children.

The fox was sad about it but did not know how to get her revenge. Afterward, the eagle stole a piece of meat from the shepherds while they were cooking it. Eagle wasn't careful enough, and he brought some ember with the meat. The nest caught fire, and the little eagles fell out of it.

The fox came and ate them all. She got her revenge by accident.

The first part of the fable is the storytelling part and the second one carries the moral of the story. The lesson is that everyone who lets down a friend will pay for it.

Fox - she believed that she and the eagle could be friends. He let her down which was expected. She was sad when he ate the little foxes but mostly she was sad because she couldn't get her revenge. At the end, we see that she is revengeful because she couldn't wait to pay the eagle back for what he has done.

Eagle - carrying parent who thought about his youngling from the very start. That is the reason why he built a nest in a safe, high place. He was a good parent but a bad friend. He did not stick to his word and only used the fox to get what he wants.  He's greed was never ending.

The Snake and the Eagle

Place: unspecified, but because of the villager we could say they are in a village

Time: unspecified

One day an eagle and a snake confronted each other. The snake held the eagle, and he couldn't move. Then a villager came and freed the eagle. But the snake decided to get her revenge. When the villager wasn't looking, she placed her poison into his drink. The eagle saw that and snatched the drink out of his hand.

The plot is short with no dialogue. The author only revealed the key events. Everything is told in five sentences. The fable has 3 characters, and all of them are bound.

The snake plays the role of the attacker. At first, the eagle was a helpless victim who gets saved by the villager. He did not ask for his help, but he helped him because he wanted to. His kindness paid back because the eagle saved him from the snake's poison and that is the moral of the story.

Snake - is sneaky and knows how to take care of herself. She wanted revenge because the villager saved the eagle.

Eagle - even though he is a strong bird which feeds on snakes his role changes in this fable. He is the victim here. He paid back the villager for saving him.

Villager -kind and wants to help the eagle. At the end of the plot he and the eagle changed roles and the eagle became his savior.

The Lion and the Donkey

One day the lion and the donkey decided to go hunting together. They came to a cave where chamois were. The lion looked at them, but the donkey went in.

The donkey started making noises and scared away all of the chamois. The lion told him that he too would probably be scared if he hadn't known that the donkey was making the noise.

The lion was only bragging to be fearless, and the moral of this story was that we should not show off in front of the weaker because in some situations we are as strong as we can get.

The Wolf and the Dog

The wolf saw a dog on a chain, and the dog was well fed. He found out that a hunter chained the dog and that he had enough food in life. The wolf wished for that to never happen to him because, in his opinion, hunger was better that slavery.

The Donkey and the Crickets

The plot is about a donkey who wanted more than he could get. He heard how beautifully can the crickets sing and he found out that the reason for that was them feeding on dew. He started doing that and died shortly after.

The moral of this story is that we should not aspire to more than our possibilities provide for us because otherwise we'll never be happy.

The Swallow and the Crow

The swallow and the crow were fighting about which one of them was more beautiful. The swallow came to a conclusion that the crow's beauty came out in spring while hers could live through frost.

The moral of the story is that long term things are better and more valuable than short term things.

The Fox and the Grapes

The hungry fox saw grape hanging and wanted to eat it. She couldn't reach it, so he moved on. She came to a conclusion that the grapes were still too raw and uneatable.

The moral of the story is that our weakness should not be an excuse for not finishing what we began to do.

Two Friends and a Bear

Two friends had a pact that they would cherish their friendship and always be with each other.

They got into trouble when a bear attacked them. One of them ran into a tree and did not care about his friend at all. The other friend who stayed on the ground pretended to be dead, and the bear moved on.

The moral of the story is that we should always be careful because we never know when is somebody going to let us down.

The Frog

One frog lived in a swamp and the other one in a smaller pond. The frog which lived in better circumstances invited the other frog to join her. The other frog did not listen to her, and soon she got run over.

Aesop Biography

Aesop was a Greek writer. Until this day, nobody is quite sure that he existed, but it is believed that he lived 6 years BC.

It is supposed that he told most of his stories and that he never wrote them down. Nothing can be confirmed with certainty because we do not have much information about his life.

There are a lot of legends about his life, and one of them indicates that he was a slave who got his freedom because he was clever and was a great writer.

His fables were written through allegories and humor and are always relatable to people. Every story has its moral.

Throughout the history, his fables were told and written down by many people, and it is believed that there are about 426 fables.

He probably wrote his fables with the inspirations of his environment, and he was the role model for many fable writers.