what is a fable story

A fable is a short fictional story that has a moral or teaches a lesson. They use humanized animals, objects, or parts of nature as main characters, and are therefore considered to be a sub-genre of fantasy. Fables always end with a moral. The Western tradition of fable effectively begins with Aesop, a likely legendary figure to whom is attributed a collection of ancient Greek fables. Most of our best-known fables are thought to have been written by Aesop, who is believed to have been a slave in Ancient Greece around 550BC. Initially, the fables were addressed to adults and covered religious, social, and political themes. They were also put to use as ethical guides and from the Renaissance onwards were particularly used for the education of children. Fables are timeless literary devices because of their ability to deliver moral messages in a simple way that can be understood and enjoyed by readers of all ages.