Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    Aesop's Fables
    Unavailable
    Aesop's Fables
    Unavailable
    Aesop's Fables
    Audiobook4 hours

    Aesop's Fables

    Written by Aesop

    Narrated by Paul Ansdell

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    Read the ebook instead

    About this audiobook

    Among the oldest stories of human civilization, Aesop's Fables are a collection of extended proverbs with moral messages attributed to the Greek slave Aesop, who lived in the fifth century B.C. Children will delight in these basic human truths represented by talking animals and plants, and adults will marvel at the plainspoken language of these ancient tales.

    This translation by Vernon Jones includes an introduction by G.K. Chesterton and stories such as "The Hare and the Tortoise", "The Fox and the Grapes", and "The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse".

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDreamscape Media Audio
    Release dateJan 28, 2019
    ISBN9781974937325
    Author

    Aesop

    Although the three hundred fables in his famous collection are attributed to Aesop, and his name is synonymous with the form, it seems unlikely he was in fact anything more than a legendary figure. While some historical accounts maintain he was a slave with a prodigious talent for story-telling who lived during the sixth century B.C., many believe it unlikely that this whole stock of fables can be attributed to one individual. What does seem clear though is that the fables began their life being orally transmitted before being put down in writing.

    More audiobooks from Aesop

    Related to Aesop's Fables

    Related audiobooks

    Children's Classics For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Mute Swan

      Jan 1, 2020

      The Mute Swan
      2 min read

    • Article

      The First Fairy Tales

      Nov 2, 2023

      The First Fairy Tales
      8 min read

    • Article

      Philip Womack

      Aug 4, 2021

      Philip Womack
      2 min read

    • Article

      Fairytales And Fables

      Dec 3, 2021

      Fairytales And Fables
      4 min read

    • Article

      Classical Corner

      Jul 15, 2021

      Classical Corner
      3 min read

    • Article

      Ancient Egypt

      Aug 18, 2023

      Ancient Egypt
      4 min read

    • Article

      Origin Stories

      Aug 6, 2023

      Vampires spring a few tropes to mind: a thirst for human blood, pointy fangs, Robert Pattinson. But variations on bloodsucking ghouls who have an aversion to sunlight have appeared in legends across the planet for thousands of years. The Mesopotamian

      3 min read

    • Article

      The SECRET In The STONE

      Jan 1, 2023

      The SECRET In The STONE
      4 min read

    • Article

      Writing Between Ape and Human

      Nov 3, 2022

      I’m pleased to have this opportunity to highlight certain features of my recent book, Between Ape and Human (2022), which may be of particular interest to a cryptozoological audience, and to reflect on how the book was written and the circumstances t

      14 min read

    • Article

      Why The Rosetta Stone Initially Stumped Linguists

      Oct 25, 2021

      While the stone’s discovery was monumental, it originally provided linguists with more questions than answers.

      2 min read

    • Article

      Arcadian Days

      Jan 26, 2023

      Book Film TV Podcast Games Other Reviews by Callum McKelvie, Emily Staniforth, Jonathan Gordon Callum McKelvie, Emily Staniforth, Jonathan Gordon Price: $27.95 Released: 7 March 2023 Ancient Greek mythology has captivated audiences for millennia. The

      1 min read

    • Article

      Could Onomatopoeia Be the Origin of Language?

      Feb 13, 2024

      Bababadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonnerronntuo nnthunntrovarrhounawnskawntoohoohoordenenthurnuk! grumbles the thunder in Finnegans Wake, and there is, as far as I know, no longer example in English of onomatopoeia, or echo-mimesis, in which the

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Shortening Of The Way

      Oct 7, 2021

      Every other year, I re-read Frank Herbert’s Dune books1 because I thoroughly enjoy their richly crafted, imaginative worlds and always find something new in their intelligent writing. Now we also have a fresh film adaptation, this time directed by De

      22 min read

    • Article

      Harnessing Ancient Sensitivity

      Dec 1, 2022

      Adventures in 40,000 Years of Consciousness Charles Foster Profile Books 2022 Pb, 400pp, £10.99, ISBN 9781788167185 Charles Foster’s first best-seller – Being a Beast (2016), widely praised as a “strange masterpiece” – had a premise that was hard to

      11 min read

    • Article

      The Leiden Amun Papyrus

      Aug 22, 2022

      The Leiden Amun Papyrus
      5 min read

    • Article

      Letters

      Sep 3, 2018

      Letters
      2 min read

    • Article

      The Fox In Folklore

      Feb 13, 2020

      The Fox In Folklore
      1 min read

    • Article

      Palissy The Potter

      Jan 27, 2022

      Palissy The Potter
      13 min read

    • Article

      Michael Wood On...

      Jul 7, 2022

      An Irish writer friend of mine stayed with me recently. At the kitchen table, the conversation ranged from rugby to James Joyce (this year marks the 100th anniversary of the publication of Ulysses in book form) and Sally Rooney, bestselling author of

      3 min read

    • Article

      All The Wild Horses

      Nov 23, 2021

      All The Wild Horses
      2 min read

    • Article

      Call Of The Nile

      Mar 21, 2023

      Call Of The Nile
      6 min read

    • Article

      Formal Poetry Is Not a Museum Piece: The Millions Interviews Aaron Poochigian

      Apr 19, 2021

      There was some tension at Columbia over my formalism. I was at one point told not to write that way. Because formal poetry is what lights up my synapses, gets me high, I could not accommodate that suggestion. The post Formal Poetry Is Not a Museum Pi

      11 min read

    • Article

      QUOTE THE RAVEN: Never more Caw! Caw!

      Oct 1, 2020

      QUOTE THE RAVEN: Never more Caw! Caw!
      3 min read

    • Article

      Persians the Age Of The Great Kings

      Feb 17, 2022

      Price: £25 Released: April 2022 Meticulously researched, Persians: The Age of the Great Kings tells the extraordinary story of this superpower of the ancient world. In a narrative that stretches back thousands of years and across vast stretches of la

      2 min read

    • Article

      Unmasking Mythical Monsters

      May 13, 2021

      Unmasking Mythical Monsters
      6 min read

    Reviews for Aesop's Fables

    4/5

    44 ratings37 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      This book contains 82 of Aesop's fables. Many of these short stories with a moral of the story at the end, I have never heard before. Many, many of these early stories have morals that I never knew the origin of - A stitch in time saves nine, honesty is the best policy. These moral little sayings have withstood the test of time.
    • 4/5
      A cute collection of morality stories/fables collected into this volume. I have read it so many times--as an adult, as a kid, as a teen--and each time I take something different away from it. I love it.In fact, I took a tattoo idea from the Tortise and the Hare fable, and added to it my desire to travel, and voila! Two different ways to travel, but in my case, there isn't necessarily a correct one.
    • 3/5
      Not the best book of fables in the whole wide world, but it does have its charm and its certainly brings back memories. There are lots of tales that I have heard before when I was a kid, several of them actually quite popular. However, this book goes straight to the point. You know the tale of the Turtle and the Hare, which has already been rewritten by several different authors, even having animated movies about it? Well, this book tells the story in half a page. Which isn't so bad, really. It's actually interesting to read those stories in a short format, with the emphasis on the story's lesson. A nice read for grown-ups, a good thing to give the children something to think about.
    • 5/5
      This was my first read through of Aesop's Fables in its entirety. Obviously I have encountered many of these fables before individually but was somewhat surprised by how dark they are. Aesop as a freedman was brilliant at seeing into the psyche of humankind. The Fables have held up well over the last 2500 years. I found it odd that the translator used the names of the Roman gods as opposed to the original greek gods.
    • 3/5


      Enjoyed the ones I was familiar with, many of them seemed repetitious. Overall a book everyone should and usually are familiar with.
    • 3/5
      Various fables by Aesop are presented in a collection.The book would be useful in discussing morals and fables with kids.
    • 4/5
      Every few years I enjoy rereading Aesop’s Fables. When I come across a different edition with wonderful, new-to-me illustrations, I just can’t help myself. The morals of the Fables are occasionally contradictory, that’s where they’re most interesting in fact. For example, some tales seem to indicate that opposites attract and can help one another; in other instances alike things are attracted to one another and those things that are different are dangerous and can cause them harm; still, one has to fight the urge, because they are so amusing, to agree with all of Aesop’s “lessons” on all points. The best thing you can get from it as a child is that the world can be a contradictory place and that the best thing to do is ask questions about the truth of any given assertion or act. Aesop, if he did exist, seems like he could probably move from being a skeptic to being paranoid pretty easily. It’s good to read the tales with a dose of good humor.
    • 5/5
      Classic stories for people of any age. I have had a copy since I was little and it almost always is displayed on one of my shelves. It is full of small tales you have probably heard over and over, but delightfully do not grow old. There were wonderful illustrations as well.
    • 4/5
      I read this book while taking a course on animal satire with a focus on the Aesopic tradition. The fables are very entertaining and make for good conversation with friends. The translator, Laura Gibbs, has posted many of the fables on her website. However, the book is organized by situations, and there is nothing more satisfying than quoting one of Aesop's fables to remedy a particular situation.
    • 3/5
      Another reviewer said it best when stating that he enjoyed Aesop's Fables for the lessons rather than the storytelling. I was surprised to see how many of today's maxims originated from this collection of stories, and even moreso to hear that they had been penned in the 5th century BC. Definitely worth a read.
    • 4/5
      I consider this a re-read - I can't quite remember when I read this previously, but most of the 100 fables included in this collection were familiar. I always knew that each fable included a moral - it was interesting in reading these that sometimes I didn't think the moral fit all that well.
    • 4/5
      The Boy Who Cried Wolf is a great story for young children. It has a very important lesson which is not to lie. The boy "cried wolf" and said there was a wolf when there was not. Then, when there actually was no one believed him. This is important for young children to learn. I really loved this story because of the lesson. I also enjoyed it because it was interesting and made the reader want to keep reading. The story was also great because it was a good length. It was not too long so it was not boring, but it also was not too short. The last thing I liked was that the story was well written. From the writing, I could envision the boy and what was happening in the story. This was a great book!
    • 3/5
      I liked this one better than "Grimm's Fairy Tales" because A) they're all super short, great for reading a teeny bit at a time and B) the language is much more understandable. But like "Grimm's Fairy Tales", the stories get repetitive after a while. They're all moral lessons, and they fall under three categories: evil is its own ruin, be honest and don't lie, don't be vain/greedy/prideful. Consequences of failing to heed lessons A, B, and C will result in you being eaten by a tiger 90% of the time.
    • 2/5
      Written, according to legend, by the Greek slave Aesop, these one or two page fables offers the readers lessons and morals for a variety of circumstances. The edition that I read did not contain all of Aesop’s fables (there are over 350+ stories), but did include many of familiar ones, Androcles and the Lions, the Fox and the grapes, story of the tortoise and the hare, the country mouse and the city mouse etc. For the most part I was disappointed (I think my previous exposure to the Aesop Fables was from the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show and the "Aesop & Son" segments—very funny and much more insightful than the original)—most of the tales appear to be pointless, with some either hypocritical or abhorrent—many of the fables the reader is presented with a character of honorable behavior that is taken advantage of by those who are not. I suppose the moral of any story is life is hard—get used to it! I would not recommended this to any child—even though this book is often marketed that way—only 2 out of 5 stars.
    • 5/5
      A collection of the greatest stories with a moral attribute ever. Attributed by Aristotle as the best. Transformed into verse by Socrates, these stories captured the imagination of the greatest thinkers in human history, and continue to do so today. No child stands to be harmed by learning these tales, in fact, and argument could be made for the opposite effect. The most highly recommended literature for children by indisputable sources.
    • 3/5


      Enjoyed the ones I was familiar with, many of them seemed repetitious. Overall a book everyone should and usually are familiar with.
    • 4/5
      Some were great, some were dull (or even rather mean), and some were in-between. Overall, not super crazy about it, but glad to have read the collection of them.
    • 4/5
      short little proverbs usually using animals to tell a morality stories. Some of these proverbs are often spoken but wonder how many know whence they come? Remind me of the Proverbs from the Bible. Rating 3.75
    • 4/5
      The Tortoise and the Hare, the Grasshopper and the Ant, and dozens more of the delightful creatures that have been entertaining and instructing people for thousands of years. The storyteller Aesop lived in Ancient Greece, far away from us in time and distance. But his clever little stories have as much meaning for us today as they did when he first told them so long ago...
    • 5/5
      A moral education, and Chesterton's perceptive remarks about fable as truism and fairytale as realism aside, also something of a sentimental one. It's like, if we worshipped Aesop, does anyone think the Bible would have caught on as instructive stories for children and maybe adults, as opposed to the bloodthirsty fever dreams of a Middle Eastern death cult?Plus some of them are just dumb jokes, and a surprising percentage of those are funny.
    • 3/5
      Very, very simple anecdotes. Any fables that have been turned into lengthier morality tales such as "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" have been beefed up considerably.
    • 3/5
      Read this for the "1001" books and they're good little stories with great moral messages, but I found it hard to read them straight thru as a whole book. A few of the stories I even got a bit confused on because I kept mixing them up with others that were similar. I thought a few times "didn't I just read this this one?" But it was a good read and a keeper, and at least I finished it!
    • 3/5
      Aesops's Fables are short and sweet and easy to read for most ages. A number of the stories are very clever, all with a point or moral to be learned in the end. There are quite a few in this book that I have never heard before, many not as creative as the common Aesop's Fables I grew up knowing; however it was fun to read through them.
    • 4/5
      Just as relevant as ever.
    • 1/5
      Nothing in it is true - though some argue that it has 'truths' (of a sort). I gave it one star...
    • 4/5
      Collections of these short tales with a moral were among the very first works--after the Bible--to be published on the printing press. It's amazing how many catch phrases come from these fables: Honesty is the best policy. Don't count your chickens before they've hatched. Look before you leap. Aesop himself, like Homer, may never have existed in history. Tradition makes him a slave in Asia Minor, possibly of Ethiopian descent, born in 620 and eventually freed for his cleverness becomes a counselor to kings and companion to philosophers. Herodotus, Aristophanes, Plato, Aristotle, Plutarch, Horace all mentioned Aesop and his tales, and the earliest surviving collection is from the first century. They're been used by orators and in primers ever since, and definitely should be read in the interest of cultural legacy. They're short. One of the most famous ones is only three lines:Driven by hunger, a fox tried to reach some grapes hanging high on the vine but was unable to, although he leaped with all his strength. As he went away, the fox remarked, 'Oh, you aren't even ripe yet! I don't need any sour grapes.' People who speak disparagingly of things that they cannot attain would do well to apply this story to themselves.To be honest, I tend to think these are best read by children, preferably in an illustrated edition. There's really no authoritative canon for the fables, the two primary collections from antiquity consist of only a few hundred tales. A lot of translations use antiquated language, or put the pithy tales into rather elaborated verse, or cut the moral, so you might want to scan various editions before deciding which to get. They're worth knowing, if only to be able to recognize where so many familiar stories and phrases come from.
    • 5/5
      Dad used to read these to us when we were children.
    • 5/5
      Who does not like Aesop's Fables? Come on.
    • 5/5
      I enjoyed this chapter book because of the moral messages learned from each short fable and how I could remember a majority of these stories from my own childhood. The moral lessons learned from these stories stem from always telling the truth, the idea that slow and steady will win the race, and to not judge someone by their appearance. As a child I remembered reading a great majority of these and enjoyed being able to reinterpret what was being said. Although the version I read did not contain illustrations, I did enjoy how the words came to life on the page. As one reads these stories, they can be illustrated in the reader's mind. The big idea of this chapter book is to give a recorded source of the oral stories told so as to teach moral lessons to children and adults.
    • 5/5
      This was the first time I ever read any of Aesop's Fables and I loved each little story. These nuggets of morality hidden within tiny stories truly makes one think about their actions towards themselves and toward others. It is an excellent book to read to your little ones in hopes of helping them understand decency towards others.

      I would recommend this book to others.