Fable is a genre of type narrative very popular and appreciated by people of different ages. born of oral tradition (studies indicate that in the East, around the 5th century BC. C.), the name itself refers to stories told and passed down from generation to generation (fable means story, game, narrative).
Who doesn't remember having heard, at some point, short stories with characters who are animals? The grasshopper and the ant, the lion and the mouse and The fox and the grapes are examples of fables, narratives that build a teaching, a moral.
Know more: Three works of children's and youth literature you need to read
Main features of a fable
The fable is a character narrativefictional and who uses the allegory to build your senses. Animals, which are characters, have human characteristics, such as greed, laziness, envy, wisdom, cunning, etc. Through these characteristics, the characters move and the story unfolds, leading to the construction of a teaching.
whereas the fable can be told orally, we know there is different versions of the same history, which does not compromise its function: that of making people reflect on their behavior in society.
The fables can be written in prose (text in paragraphs) or in verses. Titles often refer to characters, and time and space relate to their habitat. The language is simple, objective and direct, and there may be dialogues with the presence of the speech direct.
Know more:How to write a narrative text?
Structure of a fable
Since the fable is a narrative text, it is important to remember that it must have a minimum structure of beginning, middle and end, i.e,
at the beginning, we introduce the characters and the situation;
then we develop the text so that characters interact around a situation;
finally, we created a surprising ending, which generates the readers' reflection on a teaching, a moral, which usually appears at the end of the text.
At themes are varied and linked to the characteristics that animals represent, for example: the lion, strength; the owl, wisdom; the fox, the cunning.
Remember the title!
fable authors
The best known authors of fables are Aesop, Phaedrus and La Fontaine, who are attributed the authorship of the most famous texts among readers. In Brazil, we have representatives like Monteiro Lobato and Millôr Fernandes, who was willing to build reinterpretations of fables.
Examples
The grasshopper and the ant
The hare and the turtle
the frog and the bull
the fox and the crow
the lion and the mouse
Are we going to read a fable? See the next topic for an example and its constituent elements.
example of fable
The grasshopper and the ant
Fable attributed to Aesop
Once upon a time there was a cicada that lived hopping and singing in the woods, not caring about the future. Running into a little ant, who was carrying a heavy leaf, he asked:
"Hey, little ant, what's all this work for?" Summer is for us to enjoy! Summer is for us to have fun!
'No, no, no! We ants don't have time for fun. You have to work now to save food for the winter.
During the summer, the cicada continued to have fun and wander around the woods. When I was hungry, all I had to do was pick up a leaf and eat it. One fine day, he passed again near the little ant that was carrying another heavy leaf.
The cicada then advised:
— Leave this work to the others! Let's have fun. Come on, little ant, let's sing! Let's Dance!
The little ant liked the suggestion. She decided to see the life that the cicada led and was delighted. She decided to live as her friend too. However, the next day, the queen of the anthill appeared and, seeing her enjoying herself, glared at her and ordered her to get back to work. The good life was over.
The queen of ants then spoke to the cicada:
— If you don't change your life, in winter you'll regret it, cicada! You will go hungry and cold.
The cicada didn't even care, bowed to the queen and commented:
- Hmm! Winter is still far away, darling! For cicadas, what matters is to enjoy life and today, without thinking about tomorrow. Why build a shelter? Why store food? Sheer waste of time.
One day winter came, and the cicada began to shiver from the cold. She felt her body cold and had nothing to eat. Desperate, she went to hit the ant's house. Opening the door, the ant saw the cicada in front of it, almost dead from the cold, pulled it inside, wrapped it up and gave it a very hot and delicious soup.
At that time, the queen of the ants appeared, who said to the cicada:
“In the ant world, everyone works, and if you want to stay with us, do your duty: play and sing for us. For the cicada and the ants, that was the happiest winter of their lives
