4 Animal Fables For Children
Animal fables continue to be a means of transmitting teachings to children. Surely you have ever read an Aesop fable or told it to your children.
Aesop’s Animal Fables
Aesop’s works still carry weight today and are a source of inspiration for many children’s stories or drawings. Aesop was an Ancient Greek fabulist and most of his works feature animals.
Although the facts that mark Aesop’s life are somewhat uncertain, and some works are attributed to him, his legacy is well known throughout the world.
We show you a few of his most characteristic animal fables, all with very useful teaching that, even as adults, we can apply in our lives.
1. The scorpion and the frog
Without a doubt, that of the scorpion and the frog – in the photo that opens this article – is one of his most famous and well-known animal fables. The fable begins with a frog in a river and a scorpion trying to cross it. The frog at first is reluctant to help him, as he fears that the scorpion will bite him, so the scorpion promises him that he will not suffer any damage, because if it stings, both would die by drowning.
As they cross the river, about to arrive, the scorpion stings the frog. The incredulous frog asks him: “How could you do it? We will both die! ”. Then the scorpion responds: “I can’t help it, it’s in my nature.”
The moral of this story is not to fool yourself that someone else is going to behave the way you would. There are people who always act the same, regardless of the consequences of their actions, because they are simply in a way that, in principle, they will not change.
2. The lion and the mouse
This fable has a less bitter ending than the previous one. A lion goes hunting and captures a little mouse. The mouse begs him not to eat it and the lion takes pity on him and frees him.
Later, the same lion is trapped in a net that hunters had set up and, fearing for his life, asks for help. Then the mouse he hunted earlier appears and, with his teeth, helps him escape from the net. The grateful lion offers him his friendship.
3. The cicada and the ant
This is another of the most important animal fables in Aesop’s legacy. The cicada was always enjoying the summer, not working, singing and resting on the leaves.
When he was hungry, he asked his neighbor the ant for food. The ant was a tireless worker, who did not stop collecting fruits and seeds to have a good pantry in the winter.
The cicada mocked the ant by telling him that he did not enjoy the summer, that he was very unintelligent. Then winter came, the frosts began, and food became scarce.
The cicada could not find what to eat and went to the ant, but this time the ant could not help it. There was not enough food for the two of them and she berated him for laziness in the past instead of collecting food to be ready.
You will have heard this story sometime; Parents and teachers tell it to us so that we can see that hard work is rewarded and the lack of it is punished.
4. The hare and the tortoise
With a message similar to the previous one, the hare and the tortoise one day challenged each other to a race. The hare knew it was much faster and decided to sleep in the middle of the race while the tortoise arrived. When he woke up, the turtle had already reached the goal; little by little he had managed to advance until he won the race.
The moral of this fable is not to get carried away by arrogance, because many times the people we underestimate manage to go further by advancing little by little, but being constant.
As you can see, animal fables contain very important teachings that serve us throughout our lives. The humanized animals in these fables seem closer to us and are a good way to teach our children a valuable lesson.
