Aesop's Fables (Deluxe Library Binding)

In this collection of over three hundred fables, Aesop masterfully unravels the morals behind every action in human nature. Included are the favouries "The Shepherd-Boy and the Wolf," "The Tortoise and the Hare," and "The Dog and the Shadow." These time-honoured morals teach children that persuasion is better than force, slow but steady wins the race, and to look before you leap.

A fable is often thought of as a story intended to help children learn wholesome values and how to behave within society at large. However, in ancient Greece, fables were used as a means of persuasion, as the moral of a fable can be delivered in an indirect manner. This helped philosophers such as Plato, Aristophanes, and Socrates argue controversial points without offending their audience.

Aesop, or Æsop (from the Greek Αἴσωπος Aisopos), known only for his fables, was by tradition a slave of African descent who lived from about 620 to 560 bc in Ancient Greece. Aesop's Fables are still taught as moral lessons and used as subjects for various entertainments, especially children's plays and cartoons. Aesop wrote thousands of fables, his most famous fable is "The Lion and the Mouse." Nothing was known about Aesop from credible records. The tradition was that he was at one point freed from slavery and that he eventually died at the hands of Delphians. In fact, the obscurity shrouding his life has led some scholars to deny his existence altogether. His most famous fable in America is a parable of "The Tortoise and the Hare." In this story, a rabbit challenges a tortoise to a race. The rabbit is sure of its victory and as a result, depending on the version of the story, in some way completes the race slower than the turtle. Often, the hare takes a nap or takes too many breaks. The persistent tortoise, despite being slower, wins because it persevered.