translated by V.S. Vernon Jones
Started: June 16
Finished: June 21
Notes: A number of my readings of late have been related to myth, fairy tales and fables, so I thought I would continue this trend a little longer by turning to one of the original authors of fables. Or, at the least, Aesop is one of the earliest whose writings we still have. I have read or am aware of many of these short tales, mostly from my childhood, but there are also a number here with which I'm not familiar. Most of these are quite short, perhaps making Aesop one of the first flash fiction writers. Also, though this is titled a "New" translation, it actually was first published in 1912.
Mini review: Some of it's corny, some of it funny, some of it fairly serious, but there was a lot of simple wisdom to be found here in a common sense sort of way, a lot of it even appropriate today, more than 2,000 years after Aesop put together this collection. Upon reflection, my guess is Aesop probably didn't create most of these, though I guess it's not impossible that he did; I'm assuming he probably collected these fables from a variety of sources, sort of like some writers do rural tales today.
I've never set down and read the whole collection of the fables at once, but have read most of them over time. Some strange stuff in those fables.
ReplyDeleteHa! Yeah, I had to wonder a few times what ole Aesop had been smoking.
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