Anyone else here read Aesop's Fables or similar Thou Shalt Be Ethical stories as a kid?

John Brunner

John Brunner

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@Shirley Martin's latest Test Your Memory story reminded me of the Aesop's Fables I used to read growing up. I think of them every once in a while. I have recalled the one titled The Dog And His Bone pretty often. It's a tale of greed and an admonishment to be grateful for what you have.

Briefly, a dog is walking through the woods and comes upon a bone. He picks it up and--tail wagging--heads home to bury it in his favorite spot. On the way home he crosses a stream by walking on a log that's used as a bridge. When he gets halfway across, he looks down and sees his own reflection. Thinking it's another dog with a bone, he decides that he wants that dog's bone in addition to the one he's already got. He snaps at it and in the process drops the bone he had, where it's lost in the stream.

There are few more that I clearly recall (The Fox and the Stork being one), but for some reason that tale of greed has stuck with me all these years. Did anyone else read these as a kid? Got a favorite?
 
I read Aesop's Fables when I was a kid continuously until I finish the book. I had that same book in my bookcase up until recently, as an adult I would glance through it on occasion. I have given a copy of Aesop's Fables to my seven grandchildren.

I enjoyed reading all of them, the fox and the Crow with the grapes, stands out right now.

My memory is weak, but as I recall the last chapter in the book I had was the story of Aesop himself and it was very sad.
 
Tony Page said:
I read Aesop's Fables when I was a kid continuously until I finish the book. I had that same book in my bookcase up until recently, as an adult I would glance through it on occasion. I have given a copy of Aesop's Fables to my seven grandchildren.

I enjoyed reading all of them, the fox and the Crow with the grapes, stands out right now.

My memory is weak, but as I recall the last chapter in the book I had was the story of Aesop himself and it was very sad.
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The story of Aesop is interesting, since details seemed to be cobbled together from scattered sources. No one is certain that such an individual even existed, or if he did, that he actually wrote those stories. I think one account has him being falsely accused of theft (ironic, huh?) and thrown off of a cliff. Is that the account you recall, Tony?

Interesting that the Wiki article says he may not have really existed, yet cites his lifespan as being 520-564 BCE.
 
John Brunner said:
The story of Aesop is interesting, since details seemed to be cobbled together from scattered sources. No one is certain that such an individual even existed, or if he did, that he actually wrote those stories. I think one account has him being falsely accused of theft (ironic, huh?) and thrown off of a cliff. Is that the account you recall, Tony?

Interesting that the Wiki article says he may not have really existed, yet cites his lifespan as being 520-564 BCE.
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Maybe I'm mixing him up with someone else but I remember them saying he was the greatest story teller of his time. Because he had such a convincing mouthpiece he was sent by whomever was the leader ( king, queen, emperor?) into the enemy camp to convince them to meet for a peace conference. The enemy responded by beheading Aesop. The author felt it was ironic that the greatest Communicator of his time could not talk his way out of his own death.

The book I had as a child is the only one that I've seen with Aesop's personal story, as well as his Fables.
 
Tony Page said:
Maybe I'm mixing him up with someone else but I remember them saying he was the greatest story teller of his time. Because he had such a convincing mouthpiece he was sent by whomever was the leader ( king, queen, emperor?) into the enemy camp to convince them to meet for a peace conference. The enemy responded by beheading Aesop. The author felt it was ironic that the greatest Communicator of his time could not talk his way out of his own death.

The book I had as a child is the only one that I've seen with Aesop's personal story, as well as his Fables.
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Searching online all I can find was that he was thrown off a cliff because he stole a chalice. I guess I'll have to find that book to see where my story came from?
 
Tony Page said:
Maybe I'm mixing him up with someone else but I remember them saying he was the greatest story teller of his time. Because he had such a convincing mouthpiece he was sent by whomever was the leader ( king, queen, emperor?) into the enemy camp to convince them to meet for a peace conference. The enemy responded by beheading Aesop. The author felt it was ironic that the greatest Communicator of his time could not talk his way out of his own death.

The book I had as a child is the only one that I've seen with Aesop's personal story, as well as his Fables.
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That's similar to what I read, except instead of being beheaded this story said he was thrown off of a cliff. As I said, there is debate as to whether or not he even existed, and details of his life are stitched together from the stories of others. And that's one heck of a story to include in a kid's book, although I guess there's an educational motive.
 
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Mary Robi said:
I grew up with a set of "Uncle Arthur's Bedtime Stories", which always had a "moral" ending to every story.

The Goody Two-Shoes always won and the Selfish Kid always saw the error of his ways.

Would that life always turned out that way....<sigh>
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In a sense, it sure sets one up for being disappointed throughout out life, huh? Heck, even the Bible tells you to be kind to your enemies and by doing so you are pouring coals of fire on their head. That never seemed to work.
 
Yvonne Smith said:
I remember reading it, and also Grimm’s Fairy Tales. It seems like most of the stories back then had some kind of a moral or teaching to them.
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The original versions of Grimm's tales were...well...grim. They weren't for entertainment, they were to scare children into behaving.

For instance a vain little girl was sent with her parents' last coins to buy bread. On the way home, she came to a puddle and didn't want to ruin her new red dancing shoes, so she threw the bread in the puddle to step on.

Of course, her parents died of starvation and she was cursed to dance unstoppingly.

She almost danced herself to death but met a woodsman on the road. In desperation, she begged him to chop off her feet.

He did and whittled her a pair of wooden feet, which she walked on painfully for the rest of her life.

"OK, kids, there's your bedtime story for tonight! Sweet dreams! Why are you crying???"
 
I never liked Grimm's Fairy Tales. They were all about children getting eaten by something or other. They always managed to not be eaten but I still found them disturbing.

I liked the Uncle Remus stories like Bre'r Rabbit and the Tar Baby. I read that to children many times and they laughed with delight when Bre'r Fox threw Bre'r Rabbit into the briar patch. The cartoon Cayote and the roadrunner reminds me of Bre'r Rabbit and Bre'r Fox.
 
My mom got me the Bre’r Rabbit book, and I loved those Uncle Remus stories, too, @Shirley Martin . She got a whole library of those Little Golden Books, with great stories and that is what I learned how to read with, my mom helping me learn the words.
I think that the Grimm’s was when I was older, and those were pretty creepy and scary.
I had one book that was a large one with cowboy and western stories, and that was my favorite, but I don’t remember what it was called.
 
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