Ancient folktales with extraordinary charm. They may depict everyday life, or be full of irony, or full of philosophy of life, and they can bring many enlightenments.
Among these widely circulated stories, Aesop's Fables, as a Classic of Western Literature, has undoubtedly won the love of the public. Although its length is short, the content is concise, interesting to read, and hides a wealth of wisdom in life.
Aesop's Fables was written by the ancient Greek philosopher Aesop and later compiled into volumes. In Houlang's "Aesop's Fables: 500 Years of Illustrations and Stories", a total of 100 popular fables are included.
Most amazingly, each fable is accompanied by 3 to 5 exquisite woodcuts, engravings or watercolors. These illustrations full of age can not only let people appreciate the different creative methods of the illustrators, but also help readers better understand these fables.
Story One: Stags, Sheep and Wolves
In front of a wolf, a stag demanded that the sheep return a cloth ear of wheat. So the wolf ordered the goat to return it to the stag. However, when it was time to return the wheat, the stag came to ask the goat for wheat, but did not receive the promised wheat.
On the face of it, this is a story about integrity. But what if you know what the goat ended up saying? Well, not only will you not be surprised, but you will definitely take the goat's approach for granted.
It turned out that the goat had to admit the false contract out of fear of the wolf. Because if you don't admit it at that time, you will risk being eaten.
From this point of view, a temporary compromise can avoid great harm and is a wise move. And there is no need to abide by this false contract afterwards and make the stupid thing of beating the dog with meat buns.
Story Two: The Fox and the Stork
The fox solemnly invited the stork as a guest, but its mind was not simple, it just wanted to tease the stork. Imagine a little bean soup, poured on a flat plate, which makes a stork with a long beak drink.
In order to repay the fox's hypocrisy, the stork's later practice can be called a great pleasure. It also invited the fox to the house, only this time the delicacy was placed in a long-necked glass bottle. Haha, as a result, the fox naturally slipped away.
I think that this story wants to tell the reader two things: one is the way of his life, but also the way of treating his body; the other is to illustrate the way friends get along, friendship is mutual, only sincerity can be exchanged for sincerity.
On the left and below pages of the fable, three illustrations of different styles can be seen. The black and white illustrations give a realistic feel, and two color illustrations are relatively more vivid, one focusing on the behavior of the animals and the other giving a mysterious legend.
Story Three: Trees and Reeds
A tree grew tall and tall, and in the face of the low reeds, it could not help but give birth to a kind of contempt. Because in its view, only by raising a high head is the posture that life should have.
However, the reed did not think so, and it felt that even if it was not great, it was not bad. Just when the tree was not impressed, the hurricane came and destroyed the tree, but the reed successfully escaped the disaster.
Just as the so-called wood shows in the forest, the wind will destroy it. People who love to be in the limelight are actually putting themselves in a dangerous situation, and know how to converge their edges in order to be safer and go further.
This fable reminds me of the very different endings of Xiang Yu and Liu Bang. A Wujiang self-destruction, a sitting in the world, the so-called success and defeat of the king, to a large extent, are caused by personality.
Aesop's Fables: 500 Years of Illustration and Stories is such a literary work that combines story, fun, and philosophy. Whether it is the binding or the illustrations in the book, they are very beautiful. At the same time, it can also arouse thinking, which is very suitable for reading and collecting!
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