Do you remember the story about the lion and the mouse? It taught us the importance of being kind to others.
That story was an example of a fable. Fables are short stories about animals and humans who face small, everyday problems. How they solve the problems is part of the theme.
This first fable is extremely famous. One day, a hare was laughing at a tortoise, calling him slow. "Do you ever get anywhere?" he mocked. Offended by his comments, the tortoise offered the hare a race. Immediately after the race started, the hare was far out of sight. He was so quick that he thought he could sleep halfway. The tortoise, slow and steady, passed where the hare was sleeping. He won the race by setting a goal and sticking to it.
This fable teaches us to do things slowly and carefully.
A famous proverb is associated with this fable. A proverb is a short saying which offers us a piece of advice. The proverb is "slow and steady wins the race."
"A possession is worth no more than the use we make of it." This famous proverb about greed is something that the character of our next fable could learn.
A miser had buried his gold in his garden. He checked on his gold daily. He did it so frequently that a thief started to watch, quickly guessing what the man was doing.
One day, the miser ran to check his treasure. "My gold!" shouted the miser. "Who has deceived me?" Hearing the miser's cries, a passerby asked what happened. "Somebody has robbed me!" the miser replied. "Why did you put it there?" asked the passerby. "Isn't it difficult to buy things?" The miser was furious. He told the passerby that his money was not for wasting by spending it. It was only for looking at!
The passerby grabbed a stone and threw it into the empty hole. "If that's the case," he said, "cover up this rock. It is as much use as your treasure." So, do you agree with the proverb?
Let's look at one final fable. A fox and a cat were walking together. "I have many tricks to escape from hunters." said the fox with a cunning grin. "I only have one trick." said the cat. "Pathetic." laughed the fox. "That's not enough!" Suddenly, the two friends sensed a noise. From nowhere, a fierce group of hunters appeared.
Quickly, the cat climbed up into the high tree. "Behold, my trick!" she said to the fox. "What will you do?" The fox considered all of his tricks. He had many ideas, but he did not know which one to choose. The vicious hunters caught the fox. What is the moral of this fable?
Fables teach us simple life lessons to follow. Which moral is the most important to you?