Which one of the following is a fable?

Question

Accepted Answer

The correct option is 2:

A fable is a short fictional story, often featuring animals as characters who are given human qualities (personification), and is typically intended to convey a moral lesson, or 'moral of the story.' The classic fable of "The Ant and the Cricket" perfectly embodies this literary form. In this story, the industrious Ant diligently stores food for the winter, while the carefree Cricket spends the summer singing and playing. When winter arrives, the Cricket is left starving, highlighting the moral lesson about the importance of hard work, planning, and preparing for the future. This narrative structure—using anthropomorphized animal characters to teach a universal ethical truth—makes it a quintessential example of a fable, often traced back to the tradition of Aesop's Fables.

The incorrect option is 1:

"On the Grasshopper and the Cricket" is a poem by John Keats, not a fable. While it features the grasshopper and the cricket, the piece is a sonnet that focuses on celebrating the poetry of the earth, particularly the continuous nature of sound in summer (the grasshopper) and winter (the cricket). It does not tell a narrative story designed explicitly to teach a moral lesson in the manner of a traditional fable.

The incorrect option is 3:

"This is Jody's Fawn" is a prose chapter or short story, not a fable. The story, written by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, concerns a boy named Jody who cares for an orphaned fawn. Although it involves an animal, the focus is on a realistic narrative about human responsibility, guilt, and emotional maturity, rather than a metaphorical tale with personified animals conveying a simple moral. It is a work of realistic fiction.

The incorrect option is 4:

"Children at work" is the title of a chapter or lesson, often found in school textbooks, that deals with real-life, contemporary issues such as child labor and the challenging lives of working children in urban environments. This type of writing falls under the category of non-fiction, social commentary, or realistic fiction, focusing on human societal problems. It is entirely devoid of the characteristic elements of a fable, such as animal characters or a timeless moral allegory.