Aesop'S Fables  (English, Paperback, Aesop)

Aesop’s Fables is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a storyteller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 BCE. The stories are of diverse origins and have descended to modern times through a number of sources. It is believed that the first printed version of Aesop’s Fables in English was published in 1484 by William Caxton. Many other versions, in prose and verse, have followed over the centuries. Children were supposed to be the main readers of Aesop’s fables so that they “might learn, at the same time and from the same book, both moral and linguistic purity”. Well-known English philosopher, John Locke was the first person to advocate that they were “apt to delight and entertain a child … yet afford useful reflection to a grown man.” They will not only entertain but also provide people with serious thoughts. The stories became popular as a means of protecting the innocence of children from profane songs. In the 18th century the authors in the UK began to give a brief outline of the story and what was usually a longer commentary on its moral and practical meaning. The first of such works was Reverend Samuel Croxall’s Fables of Aesop and Others, newly done into English with an Application to each Fable. Another popular collection was John Newbery’s Fables in Verse for the Improvement of the Young and the Old. The 1818 edition of The Fables of Aesop and Others is divided into three sections. The First Section contains some of Dodsley’s fables prefaced by a short prose moral; the Second Section has “Fables with Reflections” where there is a prose and verse moral after each story, followed by a lengthy prose reflection; the Third, Section “Fables in Verse” includes fables from other sources in poems. The stories in Aesop’s Fables contain timeless lessons. They gave rise to and reflect many of today’s expressions and cliches.