1. Fables and Morals

2. What are fables?
Are they the same as fairytales?
What’s their purpose?
Are they found in every culture?

3. Some things you should
y
know about Fables…
Early form of story telling
Believed to be originated in India
Aesop – Greek Slave, 620 B.C.

4. AESOP
Credited for most of the known
fables heard today.
His fables include “The Ant and the
Grasshopper,” and “The Lion and the
Wolf.”

5. What are some
characteristics of
fables?
Short stories
Features animals, plants & forces
of nature with human qualities
Handed down generation after
generation

6. Fables teach a lesson,
can relate to everyone,
and connects us with
other cultures.

7. Which of these are characteristics
of fables?
A) Human Gods
B) Animals with human characteristics
C) Happy endings
D) All of the above

8. So what are fairy tales?
Start with “Once upon a time”
Setting in a castle, forest or town
Story has good/evil characters

9. Fairy Tales cont.
Many characters are animals or royalty
Stories have magic
Has the numbers 3 or 7 in it

10. A Fairy Tale also….
Story has a problem
Problem in story is solved
Good wins over evil

11. Which one is not a characteristic of
a fairytale?
A) Has the numbers 3 and 7
B) Once upon a time
C) Good wins over Evil
D) Teaches a lesson

12. How are fables and fairy tales the
same?
Handed down from generation to
generation
Fictional stories – not true

13. Similarities: Fables &Fairy Tales
• Connect us with different cultures
• For all ages

14. Differences
Fables Fairy Tales
Characters: Animals Characters: Royalty
that act like humans
Teaches a lesson Good vs. Evil

15. Fables of Different cultures
Involve animals found in that culture
Reflects cultural beliefs

16. Fable: The Lion and the Mouse
A mouse was running up and down a lion’s face
The lion woke up and was about to eat him
The mouse begged the lion to let him live

17. The Lion & the Mouse (cont.)
• The mouse made a deal with Lion
• If Lion let him go, the mouse would repay
him one day, but the lion started to laugh
at the mouse.
• Soon after, Lion was trapped
in a net.

18. Lion and Mouse (cont.)
The mouse heard the lion’s roars. Running
to him, it nibbled through the net, freeing
the lion.
Lion realized that mouse could help him.
MORAL:
Little friends may prove
great friends

19. Fable: The Tortoise and the
Hare
• The hare laughed at the tortoise’s short
feet and slow pace.
• The tortoise challenged him to a race
• The hare agreed

20. Tortoise and the Hare
• The tortoise never stopped, he went slow
and steady the whole way
• The hare thought he had time and took a
nap
• He finally woke up, and rushed to the
finish line

21. Tortoise and the Hare
MORAL:
Don’t rush
into things

22. Fables can have more than
one lesson.
Another lesson for the
tortoise and the Hare is
“Slow and Steady wins the
race”

23. The Poor Ugly Hippo
• African Fable
• San people – Tribe in Africa
• They thought the hippo was created last

24. The Poor Ugly Hippo
Hippo was embarrassed because he
thought he was fat & ugly
He begged the Creator to let him live in
the water
The Creator said no – he would eat all the
fish

25. The Poor Ugly Hippo
The hippo promised to eat nothing in
water
But the Creator said no, so the hippo
continued begging …
Finally they made an agreement….

26. The Poor Ugly Hippo
Hippos could live in water
only if they came out every
day to leave their dung
The animals would search it
for fish bones

27. This last moral was
reflective of the African
culture
They used an animal
native to their country

28. Animals Used in Fables
Lion – Strength, Big Ego
Donkey- stupid
Fox – Sly
• Hawk: tyrannical

29. Animals Used in Fables
Wolf – Greed, Dishonest
Fly- wise
Hen- conceited
Lamb – Shyness

30. Using Fables and their Morals
Literacy

31. The Frog and the Ox
A young frog, amazed at the huge size of an ox, rushed to tell her father
about the monster. The father frog, trying to impress his child, puffed
himself up to look like the ox. The young frog said it was much bigger.
Again the father puffed himself up. The young frog insisted the monster was
even bigger. The father puffed and puffed - and burst!

32. Match the Moral to the Fable
Persuasion is better Beauty is in the eye Make hay while the
than force. of the beholder. sun shines.
.
Small friends can be Don’t just follow the
powerful allies. crowd.
Liars may give Pride can be costly.
Sometimes we do not
themselves away. see our own
strengths.

33. The Monkey and the Dolphin
A monkey fell from a ship and was rescued by a dolphin. The dolphin
asked if he lived nearby. The monkey lied and said that he did. “Do you
know Seriphos?” asked the dolphin. The monkey, thinking Seriphos was a
person’s name, boasted that it was his best friend. As Seriphos was a town,
the dolphin knew the monkey was lying, so he dived, leaving him to swim to
shore.

34. Match the Moral to the Fable
Persuasion is better Beauty is in the eye Make hay while the
than force. of the beholder. sun shines.
.
Don’t just follow the
Small friends can be crowd.
powerful allies.
Pride can be costly.
Liars may give Sometimes we do
themselves away. not see our own
strengths.

35. The Fox and the Old Lion
An old lion sent out word that he was ill and said that he would like the
animals and birds to visit him. Most went but fox did not. Finally the
lion sent for him, asking why he had not come to see him. The clever fox
replied, “I had planned to, but I noticed that although many tracks led into
your cave, none led out.”

36. Match the Moral to the Fable
Persuasion is better Beauty is in the eye Make hay while the
than force. of the beholder. sun shines.
.
Don’t just follow the
Small friends can be crowd.
powerful allies.
Pride can be costly.
Liars may give Sometimes we do
themselves away. not see our own
strengths.