Tag Archives: fable

Story of Rama

Text:

“There’s this other god named Rama, and he was building a bridge to, I guess, what’s now known as Sri Lanka. It was called Lanka in the book. While he was doing that, it was actually like a small squirrel, which helped him, like, roll in sand and, like, shake it into stone so that he was able to kind of create that bridge to get there, like, through stepping stones. Um, and even though, like, the squirrel literally was not able to do much—the squirrel was obviously limited by size and strength— it still was blessed by Rama because he’s a lord. Because, you know, he gave that squirrel so much of, um, you know, its spirit and its effort to do something, even if, you know, it was kind of disadvantaged by its, like, size and its strength. So it was kind of showing that, you know, sincerity, devotion, and good intentions are sometimes more important than, you know, your ability to actually get something done.”

Context:

The informant is a 20-year-old of Hindu Indian background, in which religious fables and legends are part of a broader tradition that teaches about the origins of their gods while also teaching karmic values. The story of Rama had stuck with him and was something he absorbed deeply as he grew up. He also encountered it among other Hindus is age, exemplifying how it still transmits through the community in traditional oral storytelling. 

Analysis:

This legend is part of the Vaishnava Hindu narrative tradition, in which Lord Rama — an avatar of Vishnu — becomes a central moral figure. The story functions as an etiological legend, as identified by the informant: the tale encodes central values of Hindu ethics—bhakti (devotion, selfless effort, and divine recognition)—the vehicle of the messenger, nor the strength or status confines its spiritual worthiness. The story continues to circulate within Hindu communities, to highlight the dedication of effort rather than being bound by bodily form, serving as an enduring social function that binds community members around a shared understanding.

The Donkey and the Tiger


Fable: The donkey and the tiger

Background on Informant:
My informant is my dad; he is in his 50’s he is a longshoreman who grew up in Torrance. He has shared many stories and sayings with me over the years. I asked him if he remembered any good fables that he used to tell me maybe. He said he heard this fable from his grandma, his mother drank heavily and would argue nonsense with my dad and my grandma told him this story so he wouldn’t mind her. He doesn’t know where she heard it.

Text:
Interviewer: So, do you have any fables that you may have heard or told over the years?

Informant: Sure, don’t you remember the one I would always tell you when you used to argue with your little brother. No, refresh my memory about the donkey and the tiger?

Interviewer: yes I do but please tell it to me again in you own words

Informant: So a donkey and a tiger are arguing. The donkey says the sky is green, and the tiger says the sky is not green it is clearly blue. The donkey says no you’re wrong its green, the tiger says fine lets go ask the king. They go to the lion king to settle the argument once and for all. Before anyone says a thing the lion says, if you waste my time you will be punished eager to prove the donkey wrong the Tiger agrees to the terms. The Tiger explains the argument to the lion, the tiger says anyone with eyes can see the sky is blue the donkey says, nooo its not blue, the sky is green, right my king? The lion says, “Yes, the sky is indeed green. The donkey walks away happy and triumphant. The confused tiger asks, my king surely you know the sky is blue why would you tell the donkey it is green. The lion says, You’re not being punished because you’re wrong. You’re being punished because you are a mighty and majestic tiger why are you wasting time arguing with a donkey, you should know better than to argue with a fool.

Interviewer: So why did you tell me that?

Informant: Because you were arguing with your little brother about something, and your little brother thinks he knows everything. Sometimes it’s not worth arguing, especially if the other person is stubborn and isn’t going to listen.

Analysis:
This fable functions to teach a moral lesson, which reflects what we learned in class about how folklore can provide guidance through storytelling. My dad used the story in a real-life situation while I was arguing with my little brother, showing how folklore can be used in a progressive way in everyday life. The lesson is that it is pointless to argue with someone who is unwilling to accept reason. Instead of directly telling me to stop arguing, he used a story to give indirect advice in a more memorable way and later he didn’t need to repeat the story he would just say “you are a tiger.” This example also reflects how folklore is passed down informally across generations, from his grandmother to him and then to me, reinforcing shared values and beliefs. This also shows how some fables travel all over the world. It also demonstrates multiplicity, as similar fables appear in different cultures, and the animals suggest its origin isn’t the U.S.

The Boy Who Cried Wolf

Context:
JM: “I mean it’s a pretty common story people get told [throughout] their childhood. It’s [about] this boy that lies to his village that there’s a wolf trying to eat the sheep, but when a real wolf comes to eat the sheep, no one believes him.”

Q: When did you hear about the story?

JM: “I heard about the boy who cried wolf from my older sister and parents, not really at school just at home.”

Your school didn’t cover The Boy Who Cried Wolf?

JM: “I mean I could be wrong but where I went to school, I only remember them covering the story in like 3rd grade maybe.”

Q: Have you seen The Boy Who Cried Wolf anywhere else?

JM: “I guess on social media discourse? But the saying and the interpretation were the same.”

Q: Why do you think the story itself is memorable?

JM: “It’s memorable because it targets childhood fears of being ignored, at least, that’s what I think. At the end, the boy is ignored by the whole village and I’m pretty sure all the sheep died haha…”

Analysis: The Boy Who Cried Wolf is a common fable told to many at a young age. It follows the story of a boy who tricks his entire village into believing a wolf is coming to eat the sheep, only for a wolf to truly come when the village refuses to believe the boy after his previous tricks. The informant, JM, explains that the story tackles the fears of being ignored by society even when telling the truth. It has become a recognizable story amongst kids for its message of liars losing their credibility and not being seen as trustworthy.

Fable – The Ant and the Grasshopper

Nationality: Thai
Occupation: USC Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Language: English and Thai

My informant is from Thailand and this is a story they were told by their parents as a child.

The Ant and the Grasshopper:

The story goes that the one Fall, there was a group of ants and a grasshopper. The ants were hard working, collecting food for the upcoming winter. However, the grasshopper was not. All he cared about was having fun and playing around without a care in the world. Later, Winter comes and the ants have food to eat but the grasshopper doesn’t. He begs for food but they scold him and say he can’t have any because he was being lazy and didn’t get it for himself. Since he didn’t work for his own food and the ants won’t give him any, he dies from starvation.

This story would be categorized as a tale, more specifically a fable. This story is a fable because it’s a fictional tale with talking animals who are being used to teach a moral lesson.

The moral lesson of this story is that you shouldn’t be lazy and expect people to help you out when you didn’t do the work you were suppose to. It’s a fable that discourages laziness, shortsightedness, and expecting people to give you things you don’t deserve. It encourages being like the ants who work hard for what they have, practice collective and collaborative labor that benefits them all, and are well equipped for the Winter (hard times) because of their hard work.

The Tortoise and the Hare

Text:

BR: What comes to mind is the Tortoise and the Hare. A tortoise and a hare were competing in a race to see which animal was faster. The hare was so confident that he would win that he bragged for weeks to the entire village that he could win with almost no effort. On the day of the race, the hare easily breezed by the tortoise and seemed like the obvious winner. After gaining a few miles on the tortoise, he even decided to take a nap in the final leg of the race to gloat. The tortoise, however, never gave up and steadily walked toward the finish line. While the hare was napping, the tortoise was able to catch up to the hare and was mere steps away from victory by the time the hare finally woke up. The hare was too late. He lunged at the finish line just in time to watch the tortoise cross it, and ultimately lost the race solely due to his arrogance. The moral of the story is that slow and steady wins the race, and that arrogance can be your downfall.

Context:

BR: The first time I remember hearing this story was in first grade. My teacher read this story to our class as we sat and listened on the alphabet carpet. I have since heard many renditions, and think that the story’s central message is a valuable one. 

Analysis: 

The Tortoise and the Hare is one of the oldest fairy tales, going as far back as 400 B.C. and is reportedly part of Aesop’s fables. Most of these stories feature animal characters that undergo some kind of trial or adventure and the story provides a moral lesson. In this case, the lesson is that being slow and steady is the way to victory. I’ve heard people say that it isn’t true that going slow and steady is better, that the hare would have run the race if it didn’t fall asleep. So perhaps the moral of the story is more that being arrogant and overconfident can cost you.