
The Difference Between Fables & Parables
Fables and parables are both ways of telling stories that convey moral lessons. They’re similar enough that the two words are often used interchangeably. Still, they sometimes differ in their characters, storytelling approach, and cultural origins.

What Are Fables?
The Definition of a Fable
Fables are rooted in a tradition at least as old as Aesop (Ancient Greece) and the Panchatantra (Ancient India). They usually use anthropomorphized animals as characters and have more straightforward messages. If it’s a story about a monkey and a crocodile who behave like humans, it’s probably a fable.
- Characters: Fables predominantly feature animals that are given human-like qualities, emotions, and behaviours. Most fables were originally written for adults. Nowadays, they’re popular with children, and I suspect the animal characters are a big part of that.
- Storytelling: Fables tend to be straightforward stories with clear moral lessons. For example, the fable of The Tortoise and the Hare ends with, “Natural abilities can be ruined by laziness” or “slow and steady wins the race” (depending on which version you read).
- Cultural Origins: Fables can be traced back to various cultures worldwide, including ancient Greece, India, and China.
The Most Influential Fables
Aesop is by far the most influential fabulist. His fables have dark, often humorous, moral lessons. Here are some of his more popular ones:
- The Frogs & the Ox: about comparing yourself to others.
- The Boy Who Cried Wolf: about false alarms.
- The Ant and the Grasshopper: about preparation.
- The Eagle & the Fox: about betrayal.
- The Wolf & the Lamb: about our inherent nature.
- The North Wind & the Sun: about persuasion.
- The Fox & the Billy Goat: about trickery.
- Two Wishes: about envy.
- The Milkmaid & Her Pail: about distractions.
- The Crow & the Pitcher: about resourcefulness.
- The Tortoise & the Hare: about consistency.
- The Dog & Its Reflection: about greed.
- The Fox & The Grapes: about rationalization.
There are fables from all over the world, though. Here are some of my favourites:
- The Crane & the Crab by Buddha.
- The Rabbit & the Lion by Augusto Monterroso.
- The Lonely Toucan by Juan Artola Miranda.
- The Two Wolves by the Cherokee tribe.
- Belling the Cat—a popular medieval fable.
- The Scorpion & the Frog—a famous Russian fable.
- The Snake, the Farmer & the Heron from the Hausa tribe in Nigeria.

What Are Parables?
The Definition of a Parable
Parables are usually about human characters in realistic settings, and they often require deeper interpretation to understand the moral lesson. For example, if you hear a parable from the Bible, it might not make any sense at all until you’ve read the rest of the Bible and understand the context in which it was written. Even then, the moral lesson isn’t stated directly, so you might still need to ponder what it means.
- Characters: Parables generally feature adult human characters.
- Storytelling: Parables aren’t always clear or entertaining. Some are presented as factual history, and the moral is often left unsaid. For example, if a character dies, perhaps that represents holy judgment. But not necessarily.
- Cultural Origins: Parables are commonly associated with religious teachings, particularly Christianity and Judaism. Jesus Christ, for example, frequently used parables to convey spiritual lessons to his followers. Non-religious parables are often called folktales.
The Most Influential Parables
Some well-known parables are The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Christianity), The Parable of the Blind Men and the Elephant (Buddhism and Jainism), and perhaps most relevantly, Truth in Fine Clothes, a Jewish parable about the value of parables.
Here are some of my other favourite parables:
- The Citizen & the Traveller by Robert Louis Stevenson.
- The Emperor’s New Clothes by Hans Christian Andersen.
- An Anecdote for Lowering Work Morale by Heinrich Böll.
- The Man Who Cast Himself Away by Juan Artola Miranda.
- The Shipwrecked Sailors from the Talmud.
The Difference
Fables are straightforward stories, often with animals as characters, that teach explicit moral lessons. Parables are profound stories, usually with people as characters, often embedded in large religious texts, that help us ponder morality.
If you want to read more fables, parables, and folktales, I’m composing a large compendium of them. I’ll be gradually adding new ones.
If I’ve missed any of your favourites, let me know in the comments.
Juan Artola Miranda
I am Juan Artola Miranda, a fabulist living in the Mexican Caribbean. My friends know me by the name of my father's father, but that name grew into something bigger, my writing reaching tens of millions of readers. It was too strong for me to control. Artola Miranda is the name of my mother's mother. It's a better name for a fabulist.
You might (or might not!) be interested to know this view of Fables and Parables, although simple and useful in some situations, has been challenged academically. Something like 40 / 140 of the Aesopic fables in Babrius, for example, do not contain anthropomorphic animal characters.
There are also numerous attestations from throughout the classical world that, although certainly used early and often in childhood education, fables were also frequently told by adults in every day life, especially rhetorically in political contexts. Moreover, the content of a lot of these stories isn’t especially suitable for children. The idea that fables are only for children seems to be a relatively recent one. A recent exploration of the differences and similarities of these two genres can be found in the book “Overcoming Dichotomies” by Oegema et al.
I am definitely interested!
I didn’t mean to imply that fables were originally written for children. You’re absolutely right. They almost certainly weren’t. What I meant to say is that nowadays, the animal characters and clear moral lessons make (some of the gentler ones) popular with children. I fixed the quick summary at the end to make that clearer. I’ll also mention your point earlier on.
One of the reasons I wanted to make this site was to write about some of the darker fables without watering them down for children. I think they’re incredible for adults.
I wonder if the darker fables, though intended for adults, were originally thought to be unsuitable for children. If we look at old fairy tales that were written for children, some of those were quite horrifying by modern standards.
I’ll read Overcoming Dichotomies. Thank you!
Yeah, sorry. Looking back my comment is a little pedantic – I’ve been reading a lot of theoretical material about fables because I’ll be doing a presentation trying to convince an audience of adults to take them more seriously. I guess some of that tone rubbed off.
I like the collection of stories you’ve gathered on this website so far and I’ll most likely be using some of them with my own students and in my own tellings.
I did have one more question. What do you mean by “moral” lesson?
Do you mean a lesson related to morality? Or do you mean a practical life lesson? Or maybe something else? My exposure to fable is mainly through Aesop and it seems to me that a lot of those fables, especially the earlier classical ones, are more focused on common mistakes and uncovering how the world really works.
I don’t know if the Indian collections have a more explicitly ethical focus. I’ll have to go through them!
Thanks for your response.
I don’t mind pedantry. I liked your comment.
That sounds like an interesting presentation. I hope you succeed!
Morality concerns itself with the distinction between right and wrong, but a “moral” is a lesson in a story telling us what’s right or prudent. It’s a glittering fragment of wisdom.