The Tortoise and the Hare, The Country Mouse and the City Mouse, and The Boy Who Cried Wolf are all titles of famous fables. A fable is a short story, written in the prose fiction genre, that teaches the reader a lesson. The characters are usually animals or things that take on human traits, or personification. The author’s purpose is to teach the theme or moral of a story.
The key is to creating a fable is to get organized before your writing begins.
Follow these steps to create your very own fable:
- *First, list six of your favorite animals. For example, a wolf, birds, an elephant, a mouse, a snake, and a monkey.
- *Second, list six possible settings. For example, the forest, a jungle, a high mountain top, early morning, at dusk, and a rainy day.
- *Third, state six possible conflicts or problems. For example, animals being cunning, tricky, brave, selfish, kind, or naïve towards each other.
- *Finally, solve the problem and share the moral of the story.
Here is a fable using the information above:
Once upon a time, there lived an elephant who thought he should be “King of the Jungle” because of his size. He bragged to everyone that he would be the best of all the animals in the forest. The elephant would stomp so hard that the jungle shook. He bellowed loudly from his trunk until all the animals would only look at him in fear.
One day a little mouse said, “I will challenge you for King of the Jungle.”
The elephant laughed so loud that the other animals shook. “Okay, little mouse, let’s have a little contest. See that branch up on the tall tree with all the fruit on it? Whoever can bring it down the fastest will become King of the Jungle.”
“Okay, I am up for that challenge,” little mouse squeaked quietly and calmly.
The elephant laughed so hard that his belly jiggled. “The contest is tomorrow. Remember, whoever is the first to get that branch down wins!”
The next day, elephant took his time getting up. He thought to himself. “What is the big deal? I have won this by a landslide. My trunk is so long, I will just reach up and grab it.”
As the day wore on, the elephant finally got up and walked towards the tree that bore the fruit. He was stunned, because at the bottom of the tree, there rested the branch with the fruit and the little mouse.
“How were you able to get the branch of fruit down? You are way to small to climb up and get it!” The elephant spoke loudly.
“Well, it was simple. I calmly and quietly asked the other animals of the jungle to help me. Monkey climbed up and loosened the branch, the Macaws bounced on the branch until it fell off the tree, and snake and I gathered the loose fruit and piled it together.” Mouse and the other animals giggled under their breath.
“Ugh!” yelled the elephant. “I guess this makes you King of the Jungle.”
The little mouse said, “Elephant, a great King asks nicely to have others support and help him. Size does not matter. It is the friendships made that create a great king.
Remember to submit your fables to the Magic Dragon, so everyone can enjoy them.