IN

Part I

N this study of the fable, we shall consider: (1) The fable as a literary form; (2) the suitability and value of the type to child-study; (3) the main great contributions of this type; (4) the possible reaction of the child to the study of the fable; (5) individual fables, examples of forms, quotations; and (6) proverbs.

The fable is the simplest type of animal story. As a literary form it is especially interesting, because the type has taken its characteristics from the classic which first expressed its story in that form, "Esop's Fables." And while the form is marked by great simplicity and the classic a single volume, yet learned authors like Goldsmith

and Dr. Johnson, critics like Bentley and Lessing, and great

men like Martin Luther, Benjamin Franklin, and Abraham Lincoln have spent their time upon it and considered it a literary model. Of the latter it is said that "Esop's Fables" developed in him that remarkable love for stories for which he was so famous all his life. No single book except the Scriptures has had such widespread popularity. Indeed it ranks as one of the five great European books of the world, the Scriptures, "Æsop's Fables," and "Robinson Crusoe" being the first three.

Addison has said: "Among all the different ways of giving counsel I think the finest and that which pleases most universally, is the fable, in whatever shape it appears.' "The flower of subjects is enough," said LaFontaine. Babrius has said of "Æsop's Fables":

'Twas the Golden Age when every brute
Had voice articulate, in speech was skilled,
And the mid-forests with its synods filled,
The tongues of rock and pine-leaf then were free,
To ship and sailor then would speak the sea;
Sparrows with farmers would shrewd talk maintain;
Earth gave all fruits, nor asked for toil again.
Mortals and gods were wont to mix as friends,
To which conclusion all the teaching tends
Of sage old Æsop.

Andrew Lang, speaking of the opportunities Æsop missed, has written the following as introduction to Caxton's "Esop's Fables," by Joseph Jacobs:

He sat among the woods, he heard The sylvan merriment; he saw

The pranks of butterfly and bird, The humors of the ape, the daw.

And in the lion or the frog

In all the life of moor and fen, In ass and peacock, stork and log, He read similitudes of men.

"Of these, from these," he cried, "we come,
Our hearts, our brains descend from these."
And lo! the Beasts no more were dumb,
But answered out of brakes and trees;

"Not ours," they cried; "Degenerate,
If ours at all," they cried again,
"Ye fools, who war with God and Fate,

Who strive and toil; strange race of men,

"For we are neither bond nor free,

For we have neither slaves nor kings, But near to Nature's heart are we, And conscious of her secret things.

"Content are we to fall asleep,
And well content to wake no more,
We do not laugh, we do not weep,
Nor look behind us and before;

"But were there cause for moan or mirth 'Tis we, not you, should sigh or scorn, Oh, latest children of the Earth

Most childish children Earth has borne."

They spoke, but that misshapen Slave Told never of the thing he heard, And unto men their portraits gave,

In likenesses of beast and bird!

firmly believed that beasts could talk and reason. Most The beast fable arose in a primitive age, when men nations developed the beast-tale as part of their folk-lore, when the story was told for its own sake. But there were two nations who are especial examples of making a general practice of using the beast-tale to teach a moral truth. These two nations were Greece and India, and in both nations the fable, through special circumstances, was raised from folk-lore into literature.

As a literary form the fable is to be distinguished from the proverb, the parable, and the story. The parable is intended to convey a hidden or secret meaning other than that contained in the words themselves; it is a truth set forth allegorically to teach something of the higher life. The tale is a narration of events, either real or imaginary, long or short, with a moral purpose or without. The fable is a highly specialized form of the story, it is a short narrative with a distinct moral purpose to represent human motive and to improve human conduct, or to create a laugh. It is a maxim of practical wisdom or truth in the concrete form of a story. The characters of a fable are animals, who must possess their natural attributes, yet be presented so as to show man his own humanity reflected in the beasts. As Felix Adler has put it: "The peculiar value of the fables is that they are instantaneous photographs, which reproduce, as it were, in a single flash of light, some one aspect of human nature, and which, excluding everything else, permit the entire attention to be fixed on that

one.

The fable, therefore, must be a narrative marked by unity, simplicity, and great clearness to make its moral transparent. Its characters must be rather few and distinctive, exhibiting a few very distinguishing traits. Its animals must have the power of speech and its rocks and trees are endowed with life. All the parts of the narrative of the fable must intensify the moral, to make it stand out with force. Dodsley has said: ""Tis the simple manner in which the morals of Æsop are interwoven with his fables that distinguishes him and gives him the preference over all other mythologists. His Crow, when she drops her cheese, lets fall, as it were by accident, the strongest admonition against the power of flattery." While the characters of the animals are made to depict the motives and passions of men, they retain in an eminent degree their own special features of craft or counsel, of cowardice or courage, of generosity or rapacity. Unity of design, the moral closely woven in with the narrative, and wise choice in the introduction of animals, constitute the main excellency of the "Fables of Esop."

won the favor of the King by proving by his eloquent speech how exalted a mind dwelt in his deformed body. Here he met Thales and reproved Solon for discourtesy to the King. Croesus offered to grant any demand of Æsop, whereupon he asked for reconciliation with the Samians, which was granted.

After this Æsop spent some time as a sage at the court of King Lycerus. On one occasion he was given permission to travel, and he set out for Delphos, where the temple of Apollo was. The Delphians paid little attention to his eloquence and Æsop reproached them. So fearing he might speak publicly against them to other peoples, they determined to destroy him. They secreted a golden cup from the temple in his belongings, and then following him out of their city, found it in his baggage and accused him of stealing it from the temple. Esop understood their strategy and attempted to save his life by several noble utterances of fable, but the Delphians persisted. Finally, while Æsop bravely defended his life with the only means at hand of one who is being wronged by his enemies, that of hurling back at them his low estimate of them as the vilest and most worthless of men, they dragged him to the edge, hurled him from the precipice, and to his unfortunate death, 564 B.C. The Athenians erected a statue in his honor, by the sculptor Lysippus.

There were eight fables which were current in Greece before the fall of Greek independence. The earliest beast tales referred to in literature are: "The Nightingale" Hesiod; "The Fox and Ape" and "Eagle and Fox” — Archilochus; "The Piper Turned Fisherman" - Herodotus; "The Eagle Hoist with His Own Petard"-Eschylus; "Sheep and Dog" - Xenophon," Horse, Hunter, and Stag" and "Fox, Hedgehog, and Dog-Ticks" - Aristotle; "The Heron and Eel"-Simonides; "The Ass's Heart"-Solon; "The Serpent and Eagle"-Stesichorus; "The Serpent and Ass"- Ibycus; "The Fox and Hedgehog" - Ion; "The Countryman and Snake" - Theognis; "The Transformed Weasel" - Strattis; "The Serpent and Crab”. Alcaus; "The Dog and Shadow" -Democritus; "The North Wind and Sun"-Sophocles; "The Hare and Hounds and the Two Crabs"— Aristophanes; "The Ass in Lion's Skin"- Plato; and a dozen from Plutarch and Lucian.

The question naturally arises, How early was Esop's name connected with the Fables? Demetrius of Phaleron, born 345 B.C., one of the leading Attic orators of his day, was placed at the head of Athens, 317 B.C. Here he tyrannized for about ten years, when he was put out of office and fled to Alexandria, where he turned from action to thought. For twenty years he produced book after book, and formed the nucleus of the world-famous Alexandria Library. He was a kind of Grecian Grimm. He collected the sayings of "The Seven Wise Men of Greece" and "Greek Proverbs" from the people. He probably collected, also from the people, "The Assemblies of Æsopian Fables," 300 B.C. This is the earliest collection of Greek Beast-Fables, about two hundred in number, and thus, from the written manuscript, the name of Æsop was connected with the Fables.

Another interesting question concerning Æsop is, Where did the form used in the fable come from, and when was it first used? It has been proved that about eighty of "Æsop's Fables" originally came from India and the form of the fable is also traceable to India. There have been four theories of the transmission of fables: (1) Due to a common Aryan heritage, Grimm; (2) Due to a common. human tendency to take metaphor for reality, Max Muller; (3) Due to borrowing from one another, Benfey; and (4) Due to the identity of the human mind at similar states of culture, Tylor and Lang.

The idea of the fable probably originated in India, where Buddha, the great ethical reformer, Sakamuni, used the beast tale for moral purposes. These were "The Jatakas,"

or sacred "Birth-Stories of the Buddha," giving the former adventures of Buddha in the guise of other animals. Some of these were folk-tales in India long before they were adapted by Buddha in the fifth century B.C. Kasyapa was the last of the twenty-seven Buddhas preceding Sakyamuni. Of him it is said, "The birthplace of the Blessed One was called Benares, Brahmadatta the Brahmin was his father." All the classical fables which are Jatakas begin, "Once on a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares." There probably existed a separate collection of "Jatakas" by Kasyapa, as early as 400 B.C., before Greek contact. They were carried over to Ceylon in archaic Pali in complete form about 241 B.C. They were sculptured on the Stupa of Bharhut and other shrines. About 50 A.D. this Indian collection of Kasyapa reached Alexandria, where they were translated under the title "Libyan Fables," by "Kibises." They came to the western world in this way. A freedman of Annius Plocanus, sailing the Erythrean Sea, was caught by a monsoon, was carried out to Ceylon, taken captive, and learned the language. His accounts of Rome so impressed the King of Ceylon that he decided to send an embassy to Rome, which he did, a prince and three nobles, with the freedman. They interviewed the Emperor Claudius, 54 A.D., and from one of them Pliny probably obtained his account of Ceylon; and from one of them the "Fables of Kybises" were procured.

The eighty Indian fables in Æsop are from three Indian sources, and the dates vary from the fifth century B.C. to 1000 A.D.

In India Buddha adopted the Jataka form of teaching a moral just as Christ used the parable. This Jataka form is the origin of the fable form. That the moral is not a part of the fable is proved by the fact that so many morals miss the point of the fable.

The Jataka form is shown in the following tale, taken from "Indian Fairy Tales," by Joseph Jacobs, this variant is the one which contains a plausible motive and is likely the original:

The Ass in the Lion's Skin

At the same time, when Brahma-datta was reigning in Benares, the future Buddha was born one of a peasant family; and when he grew up, he gained his living by tilling the ground.

At that time a hawker used to go from place to place, trafficking in goods carried by an ass. Now at each place he came to, when he took a pack down from the ass's back, he used to clothe him in a lion's skin, and turn him loose in the rice and barley fields. And when the watchmen in the fields saw the ass, they dared not go near him, taking him for a lion.

So one day the hawker stopped in a village; and whilst he was getting his own breakfast cooked, he dressed the ass in a lion's skin, and turned him loose in a barley-field. The watchmen in the field dared not go up to him; but going home, they published the news. Then all the villagers came out with weapons in their hands; and blowing chanks, and beating drums, they went near the field and shouted. Terrified with the fear of death, the ass uttered a cry- the bray of an ass! (Story of the Past) And when he knew him then to be an ass, the future Buddha pronounced the First Verse. (First gatha):

This is not a lion's roaring,
Nor a tiger's, nor a panther's;
Dressed in a lion's skin,

'Tis a wretched ass that roars!

But when the villagers knew the creature to be an ass, they beat him till his bones broke; and, carrying off the * Used by courtesy of G. P. Putnam's Sons, Publishers, New York and London

lion's skin, went away. Then the hawker came; and seeing the ass fallen in so bad a plight, pronounced the Second Verse (Second gatha):

Long might the ass

Clad in a lion's skin,

Have fed on the barley green,

But he brayed!

And that moment he came to ruin.

And even whilst he was yet speaking the ass died on the spot!

In this tale, the Story of the Present might be the first paragraph, or it is omitted. The tale proper is The Story of the Past, and the gathas are the two moral verses.

In the Middle Ages, in the ninth century, eighty fables of Phædrus were turned into prose by Romulus at the schools of Charles the Great. Another prose collection was made by Ademar about 1030 A.D. But the home of the fable in the Middle Ages was England. Collections Collections of Babrius had gotten into many nations. One was attributed to the Persian sage, Syntipas. This was translated into Syriac and Arabic under the name Loquam. A larger Arabic "Esop" of one hundred and forty-four fables was printed in Paris, 1644. This larger Arabic edition was brought to England after the Third Crusade of Richard I and translated into English by Alfred, an Englishman, 1170 A.D. Alfred was assisted by a learned Jew, Berachyah, who made his own collection entitled,

-From the Babies Own Esop, by Walter Crane

"The Fox Fables" or "Mishle Shualim." In America Dr. Jeremiah translated from the Arabic one hundred and sixty-four fables, entitled "The Fox Book."

The fables became very popular in the Middle Ages. Among the Normans was a famous tapestry at Bayeux attributed to Matilda, Queen of William the Conqueror. It contained a dozen sopic fables, among them "The Wolf and the Crane," "The Fox and the Crow, "The Eagle and Tortoise," and "The Wolf and the Lamb." John of Salisbury in the thirteenth century, bore from the Pope the apologue of "The Belly and Members." Richard Cœur de Lion, after retiring from captivity, 1194 A.D., rebuked the Barons for ingratitude with "The Man, Serpent, and Lion," who were all rescued from a pit by a peasant. The collections of examples for the use of the clergy in their sermons, were filled with fables. Many fables are to be traced to the monks of the Middle Ages and the stories of their Gesta Romanorum. Chaucer gave "The Fox and the Geese" in "Nonne Prestes Tale," and Lydgate gave "The Churl and the Birds." "Reynard the Fox," the medieval beast-classic, permanently placed into literature a number of these fables current in the Middle Ages.

With the invention of printing about 1480, the European "Esop" was compiled by Heinrich Stainhowel, putting together the "Romulus," selections from "Avian," "Babrius," and a few from "Alfred's Esop," with a legendary "Life of Æsop." Stainhowel's was a German translation to a Latin text. Jules Machault, a monk at Lyons, trans

lated it into French. In 1484, eight years before the discovery of America, using Machault's translation, William Caxton, at "Westmynster in thabbey," printed the English "Esop." Then followed editions in German, French, Italian, Dutch, and Spanish, until to-day in the British Museum there are five hundred numbers under the heading "Esop," one hundred and twenty English editions.

The fable was very popular during the Reformation. Martin Luther translated twenty fables and Melancthon valued them next to the Scriptures. About 1546 a second edition of "Planudes" was published at Paris. In 1585 the first spelling reformer, W. Bullokar, used Æsop to show his more perfect way of orthography. In 1610 a learned Swiss, Nevelet, published the best collection of Æsop to date, and it is to this collection that its universal popularity is due. It contained one hundred and thirty-six new fables from a manuscript in the Vatican. In 1709 a Latin edition was published by Nilant. In 1668 Lafontaine published in French, six books of his fables, rendering the old fables into easy verse.

At the close of the seventeenth century, the popularity of "Æsop's Fables" was increased by the critical researches of Dr. Richard Bentley. The principal critics of Æsop have been, Benfey and Fausböll on "Oriental Sources, Crusius on "Babrius," Oesterley and Hervieux on "Phædrus," Mall on "Marie de France," and Lessing on the "Fable."

Of the important English editions following Caxton, one by Sir Roger L'Estrange, 1694, added new fables, numbering five hundred, and new applications. One hundred and eighty-eight of its fables passed by way of Germany into Russia and there gave rise to the School of Krilof. Krilof, the Russian fable-maker, born 1768, wandered among the common people along the Volga and then returned to the village belfry, where he would write fables. He became the friend of the Prince, lived in his home and taught his children. After his death the children of Russia contributed to erect a monument to him in the summer garden of Moscow.

A study of the fable in the schools should include those which have the most direct universal appeal, those which show the large, broadening, simpler emotions of life, especially ennobling ones or those which teach nobility. Fables which present the complex feelings, are not so easy to follow, are not so well suited to the study of the child. Love, fear, courage, hope, faith, kindness, and gratitude illustrate the simpler virtues, A study of the fable should include also those fables most frequently referred to and those which show the cleverest insight into life. The point of view is self-interest, good conduct is the conduct that pays.

The following analysis may be helpful with suggestion:

"The Cock and the Pearl". Phædrus; quoted by Bacon and Stevenson. A jewel is worthless to one who cannot use it. Wisdom of the Cock.

"The Wolf and the Lamb" - Indian; quoted in Shakespeare, "Henry IV., Act I, Scene 8. Any excuse will serve a tyrant. Plea of the innocent, defence of the innocent, and conquest of tyrant through overthrow of justice.

"The Dog and His Shadow"-Indian; changed by Marie de France. Same as "King Lion and Sly Jackals of Old Deccan Days." Have a care lest you lose the real thing of value by grasping at the shadow.

"The Lion's Share" - Indian. Same theme in "Brother Wolf Falls a Victim," in "Nights with Uncle Remus." You may share the labors of the great but you will not share the spoil. Greed and injustice. Gave the popular expression, "The lion's share."

"The Wolf and the Crane" - Indian. One of the "Fables of Ky bises." Appeared in the Bayeaux Tapestry. Gave Greek Expression, "Out of the Wolf's mouth." Gratitude and greed do not go together.

“The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse" — Phædrus and Horace Satires. Better poor fare in peace than rich fare in fear. "The Fox and the Crow"- Indian and Phædrus. Used in the Bayeau Tapestry. Never trust a flatterer. Delightfully written in verse by Bernard Barton.

"The Lion and the Mouse" - Indian. Greek form got into Egyptian literature, 200 A.D. Little friends may prove great friends. Gratitude and courage.

"The Frogs Desiring a King," told by Æsop to the Athenians. Told in "Reynard the Fox." Better no rule than cruel rule. "The Wolf and the Kid" - Phædrus: folk-tale remain. Cowardice. Shows strong contrast and is very picturesque. The weak will not fear the strong at a safe distance. "The Fox and the Stork"- Phædrus and Plutarch. Might have been an after-dinner speech. Could be dramatized.

"The Jay and the Peacock"-Indian. Included by Thackeray in Prologue to "The Newcomes." Could be dramatized. Gave expression, "Borrowed plumes." Vanity. "Fine feathers do not make fine birds."

"The Frog and the Ox" - Phædrus. Referred to by Thackeray; by Carlyle in "Miscellanies." Same theme in Lewis Carroll's "Melancholy Pig." The wise know their own limitations. "Androcles" Phædrus. Quoted by Seneca; dropped out of Æsop; included in Day's "Sandford and Merton"; probably Roman. Gratitude.

"The Hart and the Hunter" — Indian - Phædrus. Charm of still life and action. Wonderful word-picture. "The Belly and the Members" -Bidpai, Medieval Prose Esop, Plutarch. Told by Agrippa to prevent Plebeians seceding from Patricians, in early Rome. Referred to in the Bible and Shakespeare. Co-operation. "The Fox and the Grapes".

pression, "Sour grapes." get.

- Phædrus and Babrius. Gave the exIt is easy to despise what you cannot

"The Fox and the Lion" - Indian and Mediæval Prose Esop. Quoted by Plato and Horace. We fear that which we have not faced. Child might write what the Fox said to himself. "The Fox and the Cat"-Marie de France and Grimm. Practical wisdom.

"The Shepherd's Boy-Babrius. Included in "Mayor's Spelling Book." Appears in literature in varied forms. Popular expression, "To cry 'Wolf." A liar will not be believed when in dire necessity he speaks the truth.

"The Tortoise and the Birds"

Babrius. Picturesque. Never trust an enemy. In the Bidpai spoken by the Linnet to illustrate a refusal to heed good counsel.

"The Ass in the Lion's Skin"-Jataka. Referred to be Socrates; also by Thackeray. The voice indicates the true character. "The Two Fellows and the Bear"- Avian. General wisdom. Never trust a friend who deserts you at a pinch; sincerity is the test of friendship. Children could invent a similar tale.

"The Fishes and the Little Fish," same theme as "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." Hold fast what thou hast. Child could write a story about a present-day merchant, using this fable. The Crow and the Pitcher" - Indian. Necessity is the mother of invention. Kiplingin "Just So Stories," in "How the Whale Got His Throat," the "Man of infinite resource and sagacity." Perseverance. Child could originate a fable to express the same truth. "The Laborer and the Nightingale"-Oriental. Source of Lydgate's "The Churl and the Bird." Never believe a captive's promise. Keep what you have. Sorrow not over what is lost forever. "The Fox and the Mosquitoes". Only fable to be traced to Æsop himself. Told by Aristotle, used by Roman Emperors and Plutarch.

In considering the possible reaction of the child to the study of the fable, the fable, like the fairy tale, is material from which may be expected a return similar to that discussed in the author's "A Study of Fairy Tales," pp. 119154. Reaction may take any one of four large forms: conversation, inquiry, construction, or artistic expression, in painting, drawing, music, or drama. The form of reaction in harmony with the fable and the original occasion of its being told, is to imagine a situation which might call forth the fable, so that the motive which prompted the fable-speaking is made plain. In the realization of the fable the child should see the fable objectively. First, just what is it that Esop wanted to say and had to say? What did he choose to do with it? What beasts did he choose? What was their character? In the oral retelling of the fable, to get the oral expression, we must remember that entering into the motive gives action, entering into the thought gives form, entering into the feeling gives color to the voice, and entering into the images gives reality. However, the oral expression must be expected after the fable has been studied in literature. And as literature the child must realize the fable, according to the same general standards which have been applied to the fairy tales in "A Study of Fairy Tales," he must realize the fable as emotion, as imagination, as truth, and