Fantastic Fables

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Read by Olga Geiling, laurakgibbs, Shelly Weingart and others · 3 h 15 min · 16 parts

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The Moral Principle and the Material Interest to The Critics
11:56
The Foolish Woman to The Cat and the King
13:33
The Literary Astronomer to The Life-Savers
17:14
The Australian Grasshopper to Physicians Two
13:56
The Overlooked Factor to The Crew of the Life-boat
12:14
A Treaty of Peace to The Power of the Scalawag
16:29
At Large - One Temper to Equipped for Service
13:48
The Basking Cyclone to Fortune and the Fabulist
14:38
A Smiling Idol to The Expatriated Boss
15:22
An Inadequate Fee to The Massacre
11:40
A Ship and a Man to The Man and the Bird
11:00
From the Minutes to The Dutiful Son
12:31
Aesopus Emendatus: Part 1
7:21
Aesopus Emendatus: Part 2
7:39
Aesopus Emendatus: Part 3
7:41
Old Saws with New Teeth
8:26

Fantastic Fables (1899) is a public domain work.

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About this book

A narrow bridge becomes a contest between principle and profit in the opening fable of Ambrose Bierce's 1899 collection. Abstract ideas take speaking parts, while rulers, officials, writers and animals populate the other short pieces. Their arguments turn respectable claims into revealing contradictions. An inventor, for example, offers a king both protective armour and a weapon designed to defeat it, making patriotic language part of a commercial bargain.

The middle excerpt carries the same dry humour into exploration, wealth and literary work. An explorer seeking glory faces questions about the value of his discovery, while an editor treats a poem as a report requiring facts. Brief scenes and sharp exchanges allow Bierce to expose vanity, self-interest and the misuse of authority with little explanation. This collection suits readers who enjoy compact satire and fables that challenge the comfortable lessons their familiar form might suggest.

About the author

Ambrose Bierce

Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) was an American journalist and author known for his sardonic wit, Civil War tales, and horror stories. He mysteriously vanished in Mexico around 1914.