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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Definitive version, July 26, 1999
By A Customer
This 17th century translation by Everyman's Library, while at times difficult because of the Elizabethan English, contains expanded reflections that explain the moral behind each story. This edition emphasizes the importance of character building and morality rather than mere entertainment. Presented in a schoolbook style, this text is a wonderful book for adults as well, especially those concerned about the education of their children. Be sure to read the Preface. Includes a lengthy introduction to the life of Aesop.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Classic of English Literature, March 19, 2006
The Everyman Library deserves congratulations for reprinting the L'Estrange translation, which has been a much loved, much abused, and highly influential collection of Aesop since it first appeared in 1692. Its merits have little to do with its translation, since L'Estrange translated from a Latin translation of the Greek fables, and translated freely at that. Instead, it's the lively retellings, and the shamelessly opinionated "reflections" (usually longer than the fables themselves) that make this volume engaging and unique.
Modern readers will need a good dictionary in order to make sense of the obsolete vocabulary. For instance, this from "A Wolf and a Fox": "The Fox had a fetch in't, and when he saw it would not fadge; away goes he." Readers who want only the fables should look elsewhere, but readers who are interested in how the fables were interpreted, or readers interested in overlooked classics of English literature, will enjoy this.
The edition is enhanced with illustrations by Stephen Gooden, which originally appeared in a limited edition (London, 1936). Readers should note that this edition includes only 197 fables; L'Estrange's editions included 500, but these books are rare and now sell for hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Most of the famous fables--"Hare and Tortoise," "Fox and Grapes," "City Mouse & Country Mouse," "Boy Who Cried Wolf," "Lion in Love"--are here, but "Ant and Grasshopper," "Mice, Cat, and Bell," "The Sun and the North Wind," and "The Two Pots" are not.
The icing on the cake is the inclusion of L'Estrange's LIFE of Aesop, a feature absent from other current editions. The LIFE is largely a legend (as L'Estrange admits), but it's nice to have the legend available.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Original Fables from which all others seem to have decended, October 14, 2005
Legend has it that Aesop lived during the sixth century BC. He was born a deformed slave and in some of the early stories was said to of had a speech impediment as well. In his lifetime he supposedly was owned by two different masters before the latter of which gave him his freedom as a reward for his wit and intelligence. As a free man it is theorized that he then became involved in public affairs and traveled a lot, telling his fables along the way. His fables went on to be among the first printed works in the vernacular European languages, and writers and thinkers throughout history have perpetuated them to such an extent that they are embraced as among the essential truths about human beings and their ways. All fables told before him came to be attributed to him, and all fables told after him were said to be influenced by him. At the beginning of this book are some short stories about Aesop the man, from the time he was a slave up through when he was freed and became a philosopher. The later parts of the book then contain the actual fables themselves that Aesop told (I believe there are 84 in all). Although I liked some of the earlier stories, I still enjoyed the later parts better.
In the early stories Aesop seemed at times like a detective using his wits and intelligence to help solve cases. A lot of it just seemed like common sense, but some of the other stories had morals in them as well. In the very first story for instance (pg. 18), which also happened to be one of my favorites, Aesop and his fellow slaves are upon a journey to Ephesus. When given a choice of burdens to carry Aesop chooses a pannier of bread that at first was twice as heavy as any of the other parcels, and this made all of the other slaves think him a fool. By the time they had all eaten from this pannier for lunch and dinner however, Aesop then had the lightest burden of all to carry at a time of day when they were all at there weakest. This showed them that he had a lot more sense then they had first given him credit for. The main moral expressed here was that you can't judge a man's intelligence just by this appearance. (I'm sure in more modern times this went on to became "You can't judge a book by it's cover".)
The fables themselves were then split up into three parts. "The Story", "The Moral", and then "The Reflection". The Story and the Moral I believe expressed Aesop's initial writings and were usually very short and straight to the point, while the Reflection I believe was added on by the translator Sir Roger L'Estrange in 1692. While helpful at times, The Reflection on occasion seemed redundant and unnecessary in instances where it just reworded each of the morals.
Aesop's fables tried to teach man what behaviors they should not do as opposed to teaching them what they should do. Over the years movies and television shows have touched upon many of these themes and many religions have drawn upon and adopted these teachings as well. The Greek gods (Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, Juno, Hercules, etc...) are well represented in quite a few of these fables. My favorite of these was "Mercury and a Carpenter" (pg. 219). Part of the story involves a carpenter who dropped his axe into a river and prayed to Mercury to retrieve it for him. Mercury shot down and first brought up a golden axe out of the river, but the carpenter refused it admitting that it wasn't his. Mercury then brought up a Silver one, and again the carpenter refused it because it was not his. The third time Mercury brought up one with a wooden handle that the carpenter recognized as his own and accepted. Mercury was so impressed with the carpenter's honesty that he gave him all three axes, by this we are supposed to learn that Heaven loves Men of Truth and Integrity.
Almost every fable uses what now would be considered common metaphors (the sly fox, the loyal dog, the rogue wolf, the traitorous snake, the innocent lamb, the kingly lion, the stupid jackass, etc...). A brief listing of the fables I liked the most and the morals learned in each are listed below:
In "A Dog and a Shadow" (pg, 53) we learn that all who covert are lost. Later I'm sure this became better known as "a bird in the hand is better then two in the bush".
In "A Lion and a Mouse" (pg. 70) we learn that the Great and the Little have need of one another.
In "A Wolf, Kid, and Goat" (pg. 92) we learn that there is always some mark to tell a hypocrite so disguised. Use prudence, caution, and obedience (a wolf in sheep's clothing will always be revealed).
In "An Ax and a Forest" (pg. 116) we learn that nothing goes nearer a Man in his Misfortunes, than to find himself undone by his own folly, or be an accessory to his own Ruin.
In "A Fox and a Sick Lion" (pg 126) we learn that the kindnesses of ill-natured and designing People should be thoroughly considered and examined, before we give credit to them.
In "A Boy and False Alarms" (pg. 154) we learn that he must be a very wise Man that knows the true Bounds, and Measure of fooling, with a respect to Time, Place, Matters, Persons, & c. But Religion, Business, and Cases of Consequence must be excepted of that sort of Liberty.
In "A Boy and His Mother" (pg. 182) we learn that we are either made or marred in our Education; and Governments, as well as private Families, are concerned in the Consequences of it.
In "A Gnat Challenges a Lion" (pg. 309) we learn that Its in the power of Fortune to Humble the Pride of the Mighty, even by the most Despicable Means, and to make a Gnat Triumph over a Lion: Wherefore let no Creature, how Great or how little so ever, Presume on the One side, or Despair on the Other. There is nothing either so Great, or so Little, as not to be Liable to the Vicissitudes of Fortune, whether for Good or for Evil.
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