We explain what the fable is and what are the parts of this literary creation. How they are classified, examples and what is the moral.
What is a fable?
A fable is a generally short literary creation, written in both prose and verse and starring animals, animated objects or persons, who for the purposes of the story have similar communication skills.
It is a subgenus of the narrative literature, whose mission is fundamentally pedagogical: to illustrate through imaginary situations the traditions, vices or virtues of a region specific human or even of all humanity. This is carried out with formative intentions in the ethics, the tradition wave moral, so the usual addressee of a fable is children.
This teaching is generally summarized, at the end of the story, in a moral or teaching. The fable should not be confused with the sermon, the parable or the apologues (which are didactic genres as well) or with the story or the poem (that as forms of art they always lack a moral).
The fable is an extremely ancient genre: clay tablets from the Mesopotamian era have been found with stories of cunning, ungrateful, or overbearing animals. In addition, they were cultivated profusely during the classical era by the Greek Aesop, author of many of the fables that we still read, and by Phaedrus, and later by the Romans Horacio and Flavio Alviano.
In the Middle Ages the fable was reborn by the hand of anonymous authors, and those translated from Arabic or other languages abounded. At Renaissance He reappeared, hand in hand with authors such as Jean de La Fontaine.
Parts of a fable
The fable is made up of three parts:
- Beginning. In which it is presented to the characters and the initial points of the story are established, such as its geographical or temporal location, etc. It is usually short and to the point.
- Complication. It is the development of the plot that leads to a situation of moral or ethical problem, derived from the characteristics or initial actions of the character.
- Outcome. Whether happy or not, it is the final part of the story where the consequences are given and the moral or final teaching that this story brings to the reader is stated.
Fable types
Fables can be classified into:
- Agonal. They are based on the confrontation of two behaviors or opinions between two protagonists or the protagonist and the antagonist, to finally reward one and punish the other.
- Mythological. Those that collect the religious or mystical content of a tradition cultural, such as their gods or foundational stories.
- Of animals. Those whose protagonists are beings of the animal kingdom, provided with human features such as speaks or intelligence.
Fable example
Fable: The Donkey and the Horse
A merchant always traveled in the company of a donkey and a horse: the donkey carried the heavy load and the horse, on the other hand, carried nothing. On one of these trips, the poor donkey felt that his strength was not enough to reach the nearest city. Almost on the point of fainting, he said to the horse:
-This load is so heavy that I will not be able to bear it another minute. If you appreciate me at all, horse, put a couple of these bundles on your back.
"I'm sorry, ass," replied the horse, "but I was not born to carry such heavy loads, but to gallop freely and beautifully on the roads."
And having said that, he continued as if nothing had happened. A while later, completely exhausted, the donkey collapsed and died of so much fatigue. Realizing what had happened, the merchant grabbed everything the donkey was carrying and put it on the horse's back, next to the unfortunate donkey's skin. As soon as he felt the heavy load on his shoulders, the horse said to himself:
-What a fool I have been! In order not to alleviate the suffering of the donkey a little, I am now forced to carry everything he was carrying and even his own skin!
And the moral of this story is that whoever does not help others because they believe they are superior or better than them, will end up harming themselves and sooner or later will take their place.
Moral
The moral is the lesson o teaching regarding the life that is obtained after reading of a fable or some children's stories. It is a lesson usually of a moral or ethical nature, that is, it invites certain behaviors and modes of reasoning, and which judges or discredits others, considered negative.