The fable was one of the first tributaries to the stream of story-telling. Primitive man with a kind of fine democracy claimed kinship with the animals about him. So Hiawatha learned the language and the secrets of birds and beasts,
“Talked with them whene’er he met them,
Called them Hiawatha’s Brothers.”
Out of this intimacy and understanding grew the fable, wherein animals thought, acted, and talked in the terms of human life. This kind of story is illustrated by the “Fables” of Æsop, the animal stories of Ernest Thompson-Seton, the “Jungle Books” of Rudyard Kipling, and the “Uncle Remus” stories of Joel Chandler Harris. The fable is a tale rather than a true short-story.
A FRENCH TAR-BABY[4]
In the time when there were hobgoblins and fairies, Brother Goat and Brother Rabbit lived in the same neighborhood, not far from each other.
Proud of his long beard and sharp horns, Brother Goat looked on Brother Rabbit with disdain. He would hardly speak to Brother Rabbit when he met him, and his greatest pleasure was to make his little neighbor the victim of his tricks and practical jokes. For instance, he would say:
“Brother Rabbit, here is Mr. Fox,” and this would cause Brother Rabbit to run away as hard as he could. Again he would say: