Fables and Morals

What are fables? Are they the same as fairytales? What’s their purpose? Are they found in every culture?

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Early form of story telling

Believed to be originated in India

Aesop – Greek Slave, 620 B.C.

Some things you should know about Fables…

AESOP

Credited for most of the known fables heard today.

His fables include “The Ant and the Grasshopper,” and “The Lion and the Wolf.”

Short stories

What are some characteristics of fables?

Features animals, plants & forces of nature with human qualities

Handed down generation after generation

Fables teach a lesson, can relate to everyone, and connects us with other cultures.

Which of these are characteristics of fables?

A) Human Gods

B) Animals with human characteristics

C) Happy endings

D) All of the above

So what are fairy tales?

Start with “Once upon a time”

Setting in a castle, forest or town

Story has good/evil characters

Fairy Tales cont.

Many characters are animals or royalty

Stories have magic

Has the numbers 3 or 7 in it

Story has a problem

Problem in story is solved

Good wins over evil

A Fairy Tale also….

Which one is not a characteristic of a fairytale?

A) Has the numbers 3 and 7

B) Once upon a time

C) Good wins over Evil

D) Teaches a lesson

How are fables and fairy tales the same?

Handed down from generation to generation

Fictional stories – not true

Similarities: Fables &Fairy Tales

Connect us with different cultures

For all ages

Differences

Fables

Characters: Animals that act like humans

Teaches a lesson

Fairy Tales

Characters: Royalty

Good vs. Evil

Fables of Different cultures

Involve animals found in that culture

Reflects cultural beliefs

Fable: The Lion and the Mouse

A mouse was running up and down a lion’s face

The lion woke up and was about to eat him

The mouse begged the lion to let him live

The Lion & the Mouse (cont.)

The mouse made a deal with Lion

If Lion let him go, the mouse would repay him one day, but the lion started to laugh at the mouse.

Soon after, Lion was trapped

in a net.

Lion and Mouse (cont.)

The mouse heard the lion’s roars. Running to him, it nibbled through the net, freeing the lion.

Lion realized that mouse could help him.

MORAL: Little friends may prove great friends

Fable: The Tortoise and the Hare

The hare laughed at the tortoise’s short feet and slow pace.

The tortoise challenged him to a race

The hare agreed

Tortoise and the Hare

The tortoise never stopped, he went slow and steady the whole way

The hare thought he had time and took a nap

He finally woke up, and rushed to the finish line

Tortoise and the Hare MORAL: Don’t rush into things

Fables can have more than one lesson. Another lesson for the tortoise and the Hare is “Slow and Steady wins the race”

The Poor Ugly Hippo

African Fable

San people – Tribe in Africa

They thought the hippo was created last

The Poor Ugly Hippo

Hippo was embarrassed because he thought he was fat & ugly

He begged the Creator to let him live in the water

The Creator said no – he would eat all the fish

The Poor Ugly Hippo

The hippo promised to eat nothing in water

But the Creator said no, so the hippo continued begging …

Finally they made an agreement….

The Poor Ugly Hippo Hippos could live in water only if they came out every day to leave their dung The animals would search it for fish bones

This last moral was reflective of the African culture They used an animal native to their country

Animals Used in Fables

Lion – Strength, Big Ego

Donkey- stupid

Fox – Sly

Hawk: tyrannical

Animals Used in Fables

Wolf – Greed, Dishonest

Fly- wise

Hen- conceited

Lamb – Shyness

Using Fables and their Morals Literacy

The Frog and the Ox A young frog, amazed at the huge size of an ox, rushed to tell her father about the monster. The father frog, trying to impress his child, puffed himself up to look like the ox. The young frog said it was much bigger. Again the father puffed himself up. The young frog insisted the monster was even bigger. The father puffed and puffed - and burst!

Match the Moral to the Fable . Persuasion is better than force. Make hay while the sun shines. Small friends can be powerful allies. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Don’t just follow the crowd. Liars may give themselves away. Pride can be costly. Sometimes we do not see our own strengths.

The Monkey and the Dolphin A monkey fell from a ship and was rescued by a dolphin. The dolphin asked if he lived nearby. The monkey lied and said that he did. “Do you know Seriphos?” asked the dolphin. The monkey, thinking Seriphos was a person’s name, boasted that it was his best friend. As Seriphos was a town, the dolphin knew the monkey was lying, so he dived, leaving him to swim to shore.

The Fox and the Old Lion An old lion sent out word that he was ill and said that he would like the animals and birds to visit him. Most went but fox did not. Finally the lion sent for him, asking why he had not come to see him. The clever fox replied, “I had planned to, but I noticed that although many tracks led into your cave, none led out.”

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