AESOP'S FABLES
 
This is a collection of tales from the Greek storyteller, Aesop. Aesop was a slave who lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 560 B. C. One of his masters allowed him to write in his free time and later he was set free. He traveled a lot and wrote many fables for common people. He was a sharp observer of both animals and people and poured into his fables all that he saw and understood from them. Most of the characters in his stories are animals, some of which take on human characteristics and are personified in ways of speech and emotions. However, the majority of his characters retain their animalistic qualities; tortoise is slow, hares are quick, wolves eat lamb, etc. Aesop uses these qualities and natural tendencies of animals to focus on human traits and wisdom. Each fable has an accompanying moral to be learned from the tale.