Aesop

Aesop is famous as the man who wrote Aesop’s Fables. A fable is a short story that teaches a lesson about life. Many of Aesop’s fables have animals as characters. But the animal talk and act the way that humans do. In Aesop fables, the lesson of the story is always in the form of advice to the reader.

This advice is called the moral. One of Aesop’s most famous fables is “The Ant and the Grasshopper.” In the summer, the ant begins to put away food for the winter. The grasshopper plays instead. When winter comes, the ant has plenty to eat. The grasshopper has no food at all. Aesop’s moral is “It is best to prepare for the days of need.”

Little is known about Aesop. He was probably born in Asia in 620 B>C and became the slave of a wealthy Greek. Aesop made up his fables and told them to amuse people. His fables were written down and collected together about 300 B>C Other popular fables by Aesop are “The Fox and the Grapes” and “The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing.”