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Online Collection
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| The Fables are alphabetically arranged disregarding "The". The Images and Audio
are only accessible while reading the Fables in these sections and are noted accordingly.There are about 100 Fables in each of the first 4 sections. Note: I have added a flash mp3 player to all audio enabled fables. | |
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Section 1 ![]() | Androcles -> The Eagle and the Arrow |
Section 2 ![]() | The Eagle and the Jackdaw -> Jupiter Neptune Minerva and Momus |
Section 3 | The Kid and the Wolf -> The Rich Man and the Tanner |
Section 4 | The Rose and the Amaranth -> The Young Thief and His Mother |
| Section 5 | Fantastic Fables by Ambrose Bierce - 245 Fables |
Section 6 | Fables of Jean De La Fontaine - More in process of being translated |
Selected Fables ![]() | 86 Fables selected for their ease of reading and concise moral understanding |
| Fairy Tales | Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen - 127 of them |
| Timeline | Graphic Timeline of 1000 BC - 500 BC |
| Timeline All | Java Panorama Graphic Timeline of 1000 BC - 1000 AD |
| A Kidnapped Santa Claus | A Short story by L. Frank Baum |
| The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus | A medium length story by L. Frank Baum |
| A Christmas Carol | The story of Scrooge by Charles Dickens |
| Tallys: | Fables - 640 | Fontaine Fables - 21 |
| Images - 134 | Real Audio - 36 | Stories - 3 |
| Fairy Tales - 127 | . | . |
The Buffoon and the Countryman A RICH NOBLEMAN once opened the theaters without charge to the people, and gave a public notice that he would handsomely reward any person who invented a new amusement for the occasion. Various public performers contended for the prize. Among them came a Buffoon well known among the populace for his jokes, and said that he had a kind of entertainment which had never been brought out on any stage before. This report being spread about made a great stir, and the theater was crowded in every part. The Buffoon appeared alone upon the platform, without any apparatus or confederates, and the very sense of expectation caused an intense silence. He suddenly bent his head towards his bosom and imitated the squeaking of a little pig so admirably with his voice that the audience declared he had a porker under his cloak, and demanded that it should be shaken out. When that was done and nothing was found, they cheered the actor, and loaded him with the loudest applause. A Countryman in the crowd, observing all that has passed, said, "So help me, Hercules, he shall not beat me at that trick!" and at once proclaimed that he would do the same thing on the next day, though in a much more natural way. On the morrow a still larger crowd assembled in the theater, but now partiality for their favorite actor very generally prevailed, and the audience came rather to ridicule the Countryman than to see the spectacle. Both of the performers appeared on the stage. The Buffoon grunted and squeaked away first, and obtained, as on the preceding day, the applause and cheers of the spectators. Next the Countryman commenced, and pretending that he concealed a little pig beneath his clothes (which in truth he did, but not suspected by the audience ) contrived to take hold of and to pull his ear causing the pig to squeak. The Crowd, however, cried out with one consent that the Buffoon had given a far more exact imitation, and clamored for the Countryman to be kicked out of the theater. On this the rustic produced the little pig from his cloak and showed by the most positive proof the greatness of their mistake. "Look here," he said, "this shows what sort of judges you are." |
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For more information about the fables and this site click Here.
For information on what a fable is and what makes it different from a tale or parable see
Selected Preface in Section 1. Be sure to see the full preface and the 'Life of Aesop' in
section 1. See also Aesop at Wikipedia,
Fable at Wikipedia.
A Bookmark for this page would be a good idea as this site changes daily with new additions. Better yet, make us your Start page and get a daily dose of wisdom and inspiration.
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Your Narrator![]() Heather |
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Site Creation by![]() John R. Long |