Identify the Features of a Fable

A fable is a short story that has a moral, or message, telling people how to live their lives.  Fables have been told for thousands of years and are usually quite short.

This a famous fable that you may have heard or read before.  

The Tortoise and the Hare

Once there lived a hare who was very proud of how fast she could run.  She loved to bound about the woods and boast that she was the fastest animal of all.  One day, she was making fun of tortoise for being so slow.  The tortoise replied, "I get where I need to, and faster than you think.  Why don't you and I have a race?"  The hare gladly accepted the challenge for she was sure she would win.  

On the day of the race, the hare sped off and quickly disappeared into the distance.  Meanwhile, the tortoise began his slow plod along the track.  After a while, the hare began to feel tired and stopped to rest in the shade of the tree.  She thought that she was so fast that she had plenty of time to rest before the tortoise could catch up.  She closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep.  Eventually, the tortoise reached the tree where the hare was dozing and smiling to himself.  Then, without waking the hare, he continued on his way.

A while later, the hare woke up and thought to herself, "It's time for me to win this race!" and sped off for the finish line.  She held her arms high in triumph as she approached the end of the race but was dismayed to see that the tortoise had already won, and was celebrating with all the other animals of the forest!

Moral: The race is not always won by the fastest.

Some more examples of morals that can be found in fables are:

-  Treat others as you would like to be treated yourself

-  One good turn deserves another

-  Nobody believes a liar, even when they are telling the truth

The characters in fables are often talking animals with particular characteristics. Foxes are usually portrayed as being cunning, owls are wise, ants are hard-working and so on.

Are you ready to answer some questions about the features of fables?  Remember, you can return to this page at any time by clicking on the red help button on the screen.