Fables, of Æsop and other eminent mythologists

In Short

Sir Roger L’Estrange’s 1669 edition of Fables, of Æsop and other eminent mythologists: With Morals and Reflexions is an expansive, four-hundred-and-ninety-nine-part collection of classical fables framed by lengthy political, social, and moral commentaries. Moving sequentially through brief allegories drawn from Aesop, Phædrus, Avienus, and later mythologists, the volume pairs short animal tales with explicit "Morals" and extended "Reflexions." Rather than offering simple children's stories, the text functions as an incisive treatise on seventeenth-century human nature, statecraft, and social hierarchy. Slothful dogs, ambitious apes, hypocritical statesmen, and ungrateful masters populate its pages, illustrating the recurring hazards of vanity, malice, and political factionalism. L’Estrange’s version has endured because it pairs ancient folk wisdom with a sharp, colloquial Restoration wit, transforming timeless fables into a biting critique of contemporary society and universal human weakness.

The Story

The book opens with a life of Aesop and a theoretical defense of emblem and fable as essential tools for forming a virtuous character. From this foundation, the text launches into its massive, structured sequence of individual fables. Early entries establish the fundamental rules of a harsh and competitive world. A lion spares an insolent ass not out of mercy, but because the creature's low station renders it beneath a great mind's notice; an ungrateful master beats an aged dog and an overworked ass the moment their youth and physical strength fade, illustrating how easily past service is forgotten.

As the collection unfolds, the fables widen their scope from simple domestic or wilderness encounters to complex social and political dilemmas. A thin fox starves himself to squeeze into a hen-roost, gorges on prey, and then finds himself trapped inside until his belly empties again, serving as a warning against the ruinous burdens of greed and official overindulgence. A horse seeks a man's assistance to avenge a grudge against a wallowing boar, only to find himself permanently bridled and stabled, having traded his freedom for a moment of revenge. Elsewhere, an innocent stork falls into a net set for destructive geese; despite her pleas of innocence and useful labor, the farmer executes her alongside the rest, proving that keeping bad company seals one's fate regardless of personal virtue.

In the middle sections of the work, the narrative focus shifts heavily toward the mechanisms of deceit, flattery, and faction. A dying patient is praised by his physician for his heavy sweating, violent shaking, and severe swelling, leading the sick man to remark to a friend that he is ready to die of good signs and tokens. In the public sphere, a clever cat hangs from a peg to trick mice into coming down to the floor, but an old mouse recognizes the ruse and refuses the bait. A daw paints its feathers to pass as a dove to enjoy a full trough, only to betray itself by cawing, resulting in its expulsion by the doves and rejection by its own kind. When an envious man and a covetous man petition Jupiter, they are offered any wish on the condition that the other receives double; the envious man asks to lose one eye so his companion will lose both, laying bare the self-destructive nature of malice.

The narrative arc culminates in the latter third and the Supplement of Fables, where the tales address institutional corruption, tyranny, and the fragility of public order. A council of mechanics gathers to fortify a city, but the bricklayer demands stone, the carpenter timber, and the currier leather, leaving the board at a standstill as each member votes for his own financial interest. A foolish heir grubs up the thorn hedges surrounding his vineyard because they bear no grapes, only to watch wild beasts invade and ruin the unprotected vines. A lion's cub ignores his father's warning and attempts to fight a man, only to get his paws trapped in a split block of wood and lose his claws escaping. In the final sequences, a corrupt miller lectures a captured rat on the sin of theft, ignoring the rat's point that both are grain merchants operating on different scales, before turning a cat loose to execute the thief. The book ends on these stark demonstrations of power, hypocrisy, and self-interest, offering no romantic resolution but rather an unvarnished manual for navigating a fallen world.

How It Unfolds

The voyage begins The collection opens by asserting that children and adults alike learn best through story and emblem rather than sour, abstract rules. Initial fables establish the cruelty of ungrateful masters who discard old servants and the folly of high-born figures competing with low-born scoundrels.

The traps of appetite Animals fall victim to their immediate desires, as seen when a starving fox wriggles into a hen-roost and eats until he is too fat to escape through the hole he entered. Meanwhile, a horse trades his absolute liberty to a human rider merely to win a temporary feud against a wallowing boar.

The danger of bad company A blameless stork is caught in a bird-catcher's net alongside destructive geese and cranes, discovering too late that innocence provides no defense when caught alongside wrongdoers. Similarly, flattery is exposed in the bedchamber of a dying patient whose doctor calls every fatal symptom a sign of robust health.

Deceits and disguises exposed Schemers attempt to alter their identities for profit, such as a daw painting its feathers white to eat among well-fed pigeons, only to be beaten out when its natural voice betrays it. In another corner of the world, an envious man willingly surrenders one of his own eyes solely to ensure his neighbor loses both.

The ruin of public counsel A city council called to build defenses degenerates into self-interest as every mechanic votes exclusively for his own trade's materials. At the same time, a foolish heir cuts down the sharp, fruit-free hedges around his vineyard, leaving his crops entirely exposed to destruction.

The final reckonings of power The collection closes on stark portrayals of arbitrary authority and institutional hypocrisy, showcased by a corrupt miller who preaches against theft while executing a small rat for taking a tiny fraction of what the miller steals daily.

The People

Aesop The central mythologist and legendary storyteller whose life and clever wits frame the book's philosophy. Sent to inspect a crowded public hall by his master Xanthus, he reports seeing only one real man among the throngs because only one person acted with true reason, using quick humor and sharp paradoxes to navigate his own captivity and instruct others.

Xanthus Aesop's philosopher master, who frequently finds himself baffled by his servant's literal interpretations and riddles. He represents formal, high-minded learning that regularly falters when confronted with practical reality and common sense.

The Fox A recurring archetypal figure defined by sharp wit, opportunism, and occasional overreach. Whether wriggling into a hen-house until his belly traps him or mocking the foolishness of other beasts, he embodies both the rewards of cunning and the hazards of indulgence.

The Ass A frequent victim across numerous fables, representing the overburdened, low-ranking subject. Whether braying insolently at a unimpressed lion, submitting to a severe beating after a single slip under a heavy load, or realizing that a change in political masters merely means carrying the same pack-saddle, he illustrates the harsh realities of those at the bottom of the social hierarchy.

The Lion The majestic ruler of the wilderness who enforces the authority of high rank. He refuses to lower his dignity by fighting base creatures like asses, yet he must continuously warn his ambitious young offspring against the superior cleverness and traps of humankind.

The Miller A self-righteous figures who appears near the end of the work to represent institutional hypocrisy. He delivers a moralizing sermon on the sin of stealing to a trapped rat, utterly blind to the fact that his own commercial flour trade relies on far larger thefts.

In Its Own Voice

"To speak All, in a Few Words, Children are but Blank Paper, ready Indifferently for any Impression, Good or Bad (for they take All upon Credit) and it is much in the Power of the first Comer, to Write Saint, or Devil upon’t, which of the Two He Pleases."

(From the preface on early education, explaining why moral fables must be used to instruct young minds before bad habits take root.)

"He that takes an Ungrateful Man into his Bosom, is well nigh sure to be Betray’d; and it is no longer Charity, but Folly, to think of Obliging the Common Enemies of Mankind."

(From the reflection following Fable X, warning against showing misplaced mercy to habitual deceivers.)

"There are no Greater Atheists under the Sun, then that sort of People that Distinguishes it self from other Men by the Name of the Godly, and the Ungrodly Party: No Arranter Hypocrites in Hell, then those that told the Sons of Levi they took too much upon them, but that the Congregation was Holy Every Man of ’em, and the Lord was among them."

(From the reflection on the fable of the Miller and the Rat, attacking political and religious sanctimony.)

What It's Really About

Beneath its menagerie of talking beasts, Fables, of Æsop and other eminent mythologists is a sustained meditation on power, self-interest, and social order. L’Estrange uses classical fables to argue that human nature is fundamentally flawed, driven by appetites that reason struggles to tame. The central argument posits that individuals and political factions are almost universally motivated by vanity, avarice, and malice, frequently masking their corrupt intentions behind the language of piety, charity, or public service.

The text repeatedly interrogates the mechanisms of governance and social hierarchy. It asks whether a stable society can exist when leaders act like predatory wolves, advisers vote only for their personal profit, and citizens allow envy to dictate their choices. The commentary insists that wisdom consists of seeing through public pretenses—recognizing the wolf under the sheep’s skin, the cat hanging from the peg, or the corrupt officer draining the public treasury like a sponge. Far from advocating idealist utopias, the book promotes a pragmatic, cautious conservatism. It urges readers to guard their conscience, accept the realities of their station, maintain sharp vigilance against hypocrites, and recognize that changing one's position or rulers often results in trading one burdensome pack-saddle for another.

Why Read It Today

Fables, of Æsop and other eminent mythologists offers modern readers a raw, unvarnished encounter with seventeenth-century political thought wrapped in vibrant, idiomatic prose. It will appeal to lovers of classical folklore, literary historians, and anyone fascinated by satire and moral philosophy. Reading L’Estrange’s version feels like listening to a shrewd, cynical political veteran dissect human nature over a tavern table. His language is colorful, colloquial, and rhythmic, filled with period idioms—such as "worn out to the Stumps," "slam, thin-gutted," and "a dry fable"—that bring a rugged vitality to ancient tales.

Readers must, however, navigate certain historical hurdles. The sheer volume of material—nearly five hundred fables, each followed by formal morals and discursive reflections—requires a patient, browsing approach rather than a single continuous read. The text retains 1669 period spellings, inconsistent capitalization, and archaic typography that require an initial adjustment. Furthermore, L’Estrange’s worldview is unabashedly Royalist and traditional, reflecting the harsh political realities and anxieties of Restoration England. Modern readers will encounter stern attitudes regarding social class, severe views on political rebellion, and an unyielding skepticism toward human motives.

What stays with the reader, despite these historical barriers, is the striking durability of its central insights. The modern reader will recognize our own political debates in the council of mechanics who vote only for their own trades, our own media landscape in the physician who praises a dying man's symptoms, and our own universal human failings in the envious man who surrenders an eye to blind his neighbor. L’Estrange’s compilation remains a surprisingly sharp mirror held up to human vanity.