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-A '''fable''' is a brief, [[succinct]] [[story]], in prose or verse, that features [[animal]]s, [[plant]]s, [[inanimate|inanimate objects]], or [[nature|forces of nature]] which are [[anthropomorphized]] (given [[human]] qualities), and that illustrates a [[moral lesson]] (a "moral"), which may at the end be expressed [[explicit]]ly in a [[pithy]] [[maxim (saying)|maxim]]. +The '''Old World''' consists of those parts of [[Earth]] known to [[Europe]]ans, [[Asia]]ns, and [[Africa]]ns in the 15th century.
-A fable differs from a '''[[parable]]''' in that the latter ''excludes'' animals, plants, [[inanimate object]]s, and forces of nature as actors that assume speech and other powers of mankind.+==Regions==
-==History==+{| class="toccolours" style="float:right; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; width:333px; text-align:left; clear:right;"
 +| style="background:#f8eaba; text-align:center;"|
 +<center>
 +;Areas of the Old World
 +</center>
 +|-
 +|
 +* [[Eurasia]]
 +** [[Asia]][[Image:LocationAsia.png|noframe|159px|right]]
 +*** [[North Asia]]
 +*** [[Central Asia]]
 +*** [[East Asia]]
 +*** [[South Asia]]
 +*** [[Southeast Asia]]
 +*** [[Southwest Asia]]
 +** [[Europe]][[Image:LocationEurope.png|noframe|159px|right]]
 +*** [[Northern Europe]]
 +*** [[Western Europe]]
 +*** [[Central Europe]]
 +*** [[Eastern Europe]]
 +*** [[Southern Europe]]
 +* [[Africa]][[Image:LocationAfrica.png|noframe|159px|right]]
 +** [[North Africa]]
 +** [[Sub-Saharan Africa]]
 +*** [[West Africa]]
 +*** [[Central Africa]]
 +*** [[East Africa]]
 +*** [[Southern Africa]]
 +|-
 +|}
 +The ''Old World'' includes [[Europe]], [[Asia]], and [[Africa]] (collectively known as [[Afro-Eurasia]]), plus surrounding islands. The term is in distinction from the [[New World]], meaning [[the Americas]] and [[Australasia]].
-The fable is one of the most enduring forms of [[folk tales|folk literature]], spread abroad, modern researchers agree, less by literary anthologies than by oral transmission. Fables can be found in the literature of almost every country. +Normally, it is divided at the [[Suez Canal]] into Eurasia and Africa, the former of which can be subdivided into [[Europe]] and [[Asia]]. It can be divided alternatively into Eurasia-[[North Africa]] and [[Subsahara]] for cultural and historical reasons.<ref>{{Citation
 + | last=Diamond
 + | first=Jared
 + | author-link=Jared Diamond
 + | title=[[Guns, Germs, and Steel]]: The Fates of Human Societies
 + | year=1997
 + | isbn=0-393-03891-2
 + | publisher=Norton & Company
 +}}</ref>
-Several parallel animal fables in [[Sumerian]] and [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] are among those that Erich Ebeling introduced to modern Western readers; there are comparable fables from Egypt's [[Middle Kingdom]], and Hebrew fables such as the "king of trees" in [[Book of Judges]] 9 and "the thistle and the cedar tree" in ''[[II Kings]]'' 14:9. +The mainland of Afro-Eurasia (excluding [[island]]s such as the [[British Isles]], [[Japan]], [[Madagascar]] and the [[Malay Archipelago]]) has been referred to as the ''[[World Island]]''. (The term may have been coined by Sir [[Halford John Mackinder]] in ''[[The Geographical Pivot of History]]''.<ref>See Francis P. Sempa, [http://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/AD_Issues/amdipl_14/sempa_mac2.html Mackinder's World]</ref>)
-The varying corpus denoted ''Aesopica'' or ''[[Aesop's Fables]]'' includes most of the best-known western fables, which are attributed to the [[legendary]] [[Aesop]], supposed to have been a slave in [[ancient Greece]] around [[550 BC]]. When [[Babrius]] set down fables from the ''Aesopica'' in verse for a [[Hellenistic]] Prince "Alexander," he expressly stated at the head of Book II that this type of "myth" that Aesop had introduced to the "sons of the Hellenes" had been an invention of "Syrians" from the time of "[[Ninos]]" (personifying [[Nineveh]] to Greeks) and [[Belos]] ("ruler"). [[Epicharmus of Kos]] and Phormis are reported as having been among the first to invent comic fables. Many familiar fables of Aesop include “The Crow and the Pitcher,” “The Hare and the Tortoise,” and “The Lion and the Mouse.” +Geographically, Europe is the westernmost [[peninsula]] of the [[continent]] of [[Eurasia]]; its limits are well defined by [[sea]] to the North, South and West. The [[Ural mountains]] are usually taken as the eastern limit of Europe, along with the [[Ural (river)|Ural River]], and the [[Caspian Sea]]. Europe can be considered bounded to the southeast by the [[Caucasus Mountains]], the [[Black Sea]] and the waterways connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. Europe's eastern and southeastern extent are [[#Geography and extent|discussed below]].<ref name="Encarta">{{cite web|last=Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2007|title="Europe"|url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761570768/Europe.html|accessdate=2007-12-27}}</ref>
-Hundreds of fables were composed in [[History of India|ancient India]] during the [[1st millennium BC|first millennium BC]], often as [[Story within a story|stories within]] [[frame story|frame stories]]. These included [[Vishnu Sarma]]'s ''[[Panchatantra]]'', the ''[[Hitopadesha]]'', ''[[Baital Pachisi|Vikram and The Vampire]]'', and [[Syntipas]]' ''[[Seven Wise Masters]]'', which were collections of fables that were later influential throughout the [[Old World]]. Ben E. Perry has argued that some of the ''[[Jataka tales]]'' and some of the fables in ''Panchatantra'' may have been influenced by similar [[Greek language|Greek]] and [[Near East]]ern ones. Earlier [[Indian epic poetry|Indian epics]] such as [[Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa|Vyasa's]] ''[[Mahabharata]]'' and [[Valmiki]]'s ''[[Ramayana]]'' also contained fables within the main story, often as [[side story|side stories]] or [[back-story]]. The most famous fables from the [[Middle East]] were the ''[[One Thousand and One Nights]]'', also known as the ''Arabian Nights''.+Medieval [[Europe]]ans considered Asia as a continent – a distinct landmass. The European concept of the three continents in the Old World goes back to [[Classical Antiquity]], but during the Middle Ages was notably due to [[Isidore of Sevilla]] (see [[T and O map]]). The demarcation between Asia and Africa (to the southwest) is the [[Isthmus]] of Suez and the [[Red Sea]]. The boundary between Asia and [[Europe]] is conventionally considered to run through the [[Dardanelles]], the [[Sea of Marmara]], the [[Bosporus]], the Black Sea, the Caucasus Mountains, the Caspian Sea, the [[Ural River]] to its source, and the Ural Mountains to the [[Kara Sea]] near Kara, [[Russia]]. While this interpretation of tripartite continents (i.e., of Asia, Europe, and Africa) remains common in modernity, discovery of the extent of Africa and Asia have made this definition somewhat anachronistic. This is especially true in the case of Asia, which would have several [[subregions of Asia|regions]] that would be considered distinct landmasses if these criteria were used (for example, [[South Asia|Southern Asia]] and [[East Asia|Eastern Asia]]).
-Fables had a further long tradition through the [[Middle Ages]], and became part of European high literature. During the 17th century, the [[France|French]] fabulist [[Jean de La Fontaine]] (1621–1695) saw the soul of the fable in the moral — a rule of behavior. Starting with the Aesopian pattern, La Fontaine set out to satirize the court, the church, the rising [[bourgeoisie]], indeed the entire human scene of his time. La Fontaine's model was subsequently emulated by [[Poland]]'s [[Ignacy Krasicki]] (1735–1801), [[Spain]]'s [[Félix María de Samaniego]] (1745-1801) and [[Tomás de Iriarte y Oropesa]] (1750-1791), and [[Russia]]'s [[Ivan Krylov]] (1769–1844).+Africa is the largest of the three great southward projections from the main mass of the Earth's exposed surface. Separated from [[Europe]] by the [[Mediterranean Sea]], it is joined to Asia at its northeast extremity by the [[Suez Canal|Isthmus of Suez]] (transected by the [[Suez Canal]]), 163&nbsp;km (101&nbsp;miles) wide.<ref>Drysdale, Alasdair & Gerald H. Blake. (1985) ''The Middle East and North Africa'', Oxford University Press US. ISBN 0-19-503538-0.</ref> ([[Geopolitics|Geopolitically]], [[Egypt]]'s [[Sinai Peninsula]] east of the Suez Canal is often considered part of Africa, as well. <ref>[http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/atlas/index.html?Parent=africa&Rootmap=&Mode=d Atlas - Xpeditions @ nationalgeographic.com:]</ref> <ref>[http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/reference/international/africa/referencemap_image_view The Atlas of Canada - Africa:]</ref>) From the most northerly point, [[Ras ben Sakka]] in [[Tunisia]] (37°21' N), to the most southerly point, [[Cape Agulhas]] in [[South Africa]] (34°51'15" S), is a distance of approximately 8,000&nbsp;km (5,000&nbsp;miles);<ref>Lewin, Evans. (1924) ''Africa'', Clarendon press.</ref> from [[Cap-Vert|Cape Verde]], 17°33'22" W, the westernmost point, to [[Ras Hafun]] in [[Somalia]], 51°27'52" E, the most easterly projection, is a distance of approximately 7,400&nbsp;km (4,600&nbsp;miles).
-In modern times, while the fable has been trivialized in children's books, it has also been fully adapted to modern adult literature. [[Felix Salten]]'s ''[[Bambi, A Life in the Woods|Bambi]]'' (1923) is a ''[[Bildungsroman]]'' — a story of a [[protagonist]]'s coming-of-age — cast in the form of a fable. [[James Thurber]] used the ancient fable style in his books, ''[[Fables for Our Time and Famous Poems Illustrated|Fables for Our Time]]'' (1940) and ''The Beast in Me and Other Animals'' (1948). [[Władysław Reymont]]'s ''The Revolt'' (1924), a [[metaphor]] for the [[Bolshevik]] [[Russian Revolution of 1917|Revolution of 1917]], described a revolt by animals that take over their farm in order to introduce "equality." [[George Orwell]]'s ''[[Animal Farm]]'' (1945) similarly satirized [[Stalinist Communism]] in particular, and [[totalitarianism]] in general, in the guise of animal fable.+Although the interiors of Asia and Africa were not well known to Europeans at the time, their existence was known. [[Oceania]] and [[Antarctica]] are neither definitively Old World nor New World, since the terms "Old World" and "New World" predate their discovery by Europeans.
-==Characteristics== 
-Fables can be described as a [[didactic]] mode of literature. That is, whether a fable has been handed down from generation to generation as [[oral literature]], or constructed by a literary tale-teller, its purpose is to impart a [[lesson]] or [[Value (personal and cultural)|value]], or to give sage [[advice]]. Fables also provide opportunities to [[laughter|laugh]] at human [[folly]], when they supply examples of behaviors to be avoided rather than emulated. 
- 
-Fables frequently have as their central characters ''[[animal]]s'' that are given [[anthropomorph]]ic characteristics such as the ability to reason and speak. In [[antiquity]], [[Aesop]] presented a wide range of animals as [[protagonist]]s, including ''[[The Tortoise and the Hare]]'' which famously engage in a race against each other; and, in another classic fable, a fox which rejects grapes that are out of reach, as probably being sour ("[[sour grapes]]"). [[Old French|Medieval French]] ''[[fabliau]]x'' might feature [[Reynard the Fox]], a [[trickster]] figure, and offer a subtext mildly subversive of the [[feudal]] social order. Similarly, the [[18th-century]] Polish fabulist [[Ignacy Krasicki]] employs [[animal]]s as the title actors in his striking verse fable, "[[Fables and Parables#The Lamb and the Wolves|The Lamb and the Wolves]]." Krasicki uses ''[[plant]]s'' the same way in "[[Fables and Parables#The Violet and the Grass|The Violet and the Grass]]."  
- 
-[[Personification]] may also be extended to ''[[inanimate|things inanimate]]'', as in Krasicki's "[[Fables and Parables#Bread and Sword|Bread and Sword]]." His "[[Fables and Parables#The Stream and the River|The Stream and the River]]," again, offers an example of personified ''[[Nature|forces of nature]]''. 
- 
-''[[Gods|Divinities]]'' may also appear in fables as active agents. ''[[Aesop's Fables]]'' feature most of the Greek [[Pantheon (gods)|pantheon]], including [[Zeus]] and [[Hermes]]. 
- 
-==Classic fabulists== 
-* [[Aesop]] (mid-[[6th century BCE]]), author of ''[[Aesop's Fables]]''. 
-* [[Vishnu Sarma]] (ca. 200 BCE), author of the [[anthropomorphic]] political treatise and fable collection, the ''[[Panchatantra]]''. 
-* [[Bidpai]] (ca. 200 BCE), author of [[Sanskrit]] ([[Hindu]]) and [[Pali]] ([[Buddhist]]) animal fables in verse and prose. 
-* [[Syntipas]] (ca. 100 BCE), [[India]]n [[philosopher]], reputed author of a collection of [[tale]]s known in [[Europe]] as ''[[Seven Wise Masters|The Story of the Seven Wise Masters]]''. 
-* [[Gaius Julius Hyginus]] (Hyginus, [[Latin]] author, native of [[Spain]] or [[Alexandria]], ca. 64 BCE - 17 C.E.), author of ''[[Fabulae]]''. 
-* [[Phaedrus]] (15 BCE – 50 CE), [[Roman Republic|Roman]] [[fabulist]], by birth a [[Ancient Macedonians|Macedonian]]. 
-* [[Walter of England]] c.1175 
-* [[Marie de France]] ([[12th century]]). 
-* [[Berechiah ha-Nakdan]] (Berechiah the Punctuator, or [[Grammarian]], [[13th century]]), author of [[Jewish]] fables adapted from [[Aesop]]'s Fables. 
-* [[Robert Henryson]] ([[Scotland|Scottish]], [[15th century]]), author of ''[[The Morall Fabillis of Esope the Phrygian]]''. 
-* [[Leonardo da Vinci]] ([[Italy|Italian]], 1452 – 1519). 
-* [[Biernat of Lublin]] ([[Poland|Polish]], 1465? &ndash; after 1529). 
-* [[Jean de La Fontaine]] ([[France|French]], 1621 – 95). 
-* [[John Gay]] ([[England|English]]) (1685 – 1732)  
-* [[Ignacy Krasicki]] ([[Poland|Polish]], 1735 &ndash; 1801). 
-* [[Dositej Obradović]] ([[Serbia]]n, 1742? – 1811). 
-* [[Félix María de Samaniego]] ([[Spain|Spanish]], 1745 – 1801), best known for "The Ant and the Cicade." 
-* [[Tomás de Iriarte]] ([[Spain|Spanish]], 1750 – 91). 
-* [[Ivan Krylov]] ([[Russia]]n, 1769 – 1844). 
- 
-==Modern fabulists== 
-* [[Leo Tolstoy]] (1828 – 1910). 
-* [[Nico Maniquis]] (1834 – 1912). 
-* [[Ambrose Bierce]] (1842 – ?1914). 
-* [[Sholem Aleichem]] (1859 – 1916). 
-* [[George Ade]] (1866 – 1944), ''Fables in Slang'', etc. 
-* [[Don Marquis]] (1878 – 1937), author of the fables of [[archy and mehitabel]]. 
-* [[Franz Kafka]] (1883 – 1924). 
-* [[Damon Runyon]] (1884 – 1946). 
-* [[James Thurber]] (1894 – 1961), ''Fables For Our Time''. 
-* [[George Orwell]] (1903 – 50). 
-* [[Dr. Seuss]] (1904 – 91) 
-* [[Isaac Bashevis Singer]] (1904 – 91). 
-* [[José Saramago]] (born 1922). 
-* [[Italo Calvino]] (1923 – 85), "If on a winter's night a traveler," etc. 
-* [[Arnold Lobel]] (1933 – 87), author of ''Fables'', winner 1981 [[Caldecott Medal]]. 
-* [[Ramsay Wood]] (born 1943), author of ''Kalila and Dimna: Fables of Friendship and Betrayal''. 
-* [[Bill Willingham]] (born 1956), author of ''[[Fables (Vertigo)|Fables]]'' graphic novels. 
-* Acrid Hermit (born 1962), author of ''http://www.createspace.com/3340070" Misty Forest Fables. ''isbn 9781605859309 
==See also== ==See also==
-* [[Allegory]]+*[[Eastern Hemisphere]]
-* [[Anthropomorphism]]+*[[Afro-Eurasia]]
-* [[Apologue]]+*[[Eurocentrism]]
-* [[Apologia]]+*[[New World]]
-* [[Fairy tale]]+*[[Age of Exploration]]
-* [[Fabulation]]+*[[Far East]]
-* [[Fantastique]]+*[[Synoptic table of the principal old world prehistoric cultures]]
-* [[Ghost story]]+
-* [[Parable]]+
-* [[Proverb]]+
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The Old World consists of those parts of Earth known to Europeans, Asians, and Africans in the 15th century.

Regions

Areas of the Old World

The Old World includes Europe, Asia, and Africa (collectively known as Afro-Eurasia), plus surrounding islands. The term is in distinction from the New World, meaning the Americas and Australasia.

Normally, it is divided at the Suez Canal into Eurasia and Africa, the former of which can be subdivided into Europe and Asia. It can be divided alternatively into Eurasia-North Africa and Subsahara for cultural and historical reasons.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

The mainland of Afro-Eurasia (excluding islands such as the British Isles, Japan, Madagascar and the Malay Archipelago) has been referred to as the World Island. (The term may have been coined by Sir Halford John Mackinder in The Geographical Pivot of History.<ref>See Francis P. Sempa, Mackinder's World</ref>)

Geographically, Europe is the westernmost peninsula of the continent of Eurasia; its limits are well defined by sea to the North, South and West. The Ural mountains are usually taken as the eastern limit of Europe, along with the Ural River, and the Caspian Sea. Europe can be considered bounded to the southeast by the Caucasus Mountains, the Black Sea and the waterways connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. Europe's eastern and southeastern extent are discussed below.<ref name="Encarta">{{

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Medieval Europeans considered Asia as a continent – a distinct landmass. The European concept of the three continents in the Old World goes back to Classical Antiquity, but during the Middle Ages was notably due to Isidore of Sevilla (see T and O map). The demarcation between Asia and Africa (to the southwest) is the Isthmus of Suez and the Red Sea. The boundary between Asia and Europe is conventionally considered to run through the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, the Black Sea, the Caucasus Mountains, the Caspian Sea, the Ural River to its source, and the Ural Mountains to the Kara Sea near Kara, Russia. While this interpretation of tripartite continents (i.e., of Asia, Europe, and Africa) remains common in modernity, discovery of the extent of Africa and Asia have made this definition somewhat anachronistic. This is especially true in the case of Asia, which would have several regions that would be considered distinct landmasses if these criteria were used (for example, Southern Asia and Eastern Asia).

Africa is the largest of the three great southward projections from the main mass of the Earth's exposed surface. Separated from Europe by the Mediterranean Sea, it is joined to Asia at its northeast extremity by the Isthmus of Suez (transected by the Suez Canal), 163 km (101 miles) wide.<ref>Drysdale, Alasdair & Gerald H. Blake. (1985) The Middle East and North Africa, Oxford University Press US. ISBN 0-19-503538-0.</ref> (Geopolitically, Egypt's Sinai Peninsula east of the Suez Canal is often considered part of Africa, as well. <ref>Atlas - Xpeditions @ nationalgeographic.com:</ref> <ref>The Atlas of Canada - Africa:</ref>) From the most northerly point, Ras ben Sakka in Tunisia (37°21' N), to the most southerly point, Cape Agulhas in South Africa (34°51'15" S), is a distance of approximately 8,000 km (5,000 miles);<ref>Lewin, Evans. (1924) Africa, Clarendon press.</ref> from Cape Verde, 17°33'22" W, the westernmost point, to Ras Hafun in Somalia, 51°27'52" E, the most easterly projection, is a distance of approximately 7,400 km (4,600 miles).

Although the interiors of Asia and Africa were not well known to Europeans at the time, their existence was known. Oceania and Antarctica are neither definitively Old World nor New World, since the terms "Old World" and "New World" predate their discovery by Europeans.

See also


Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Old World" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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