Aesop is said to be a slave who lived in Greece in the 6th century BC. He has been remembered for his wonderful stories, called fables. He used animal characters to show human behavior and to teach a lesson, or a moral, about that behavior. One of his most popular tales, for example, is "The Tortoise and the Hare," with the moral "It is not just speed that wins the race."
Aesop's fables spread throughout the world by word of mouth, retold for hundreds of years. Eventually they were written down and have been translated into many languages.
相傳伊索是生活在公元前6世紀的一個希臘奴隸,擅長講故事。現在的《伊索寓言》是后人根據口頭流傳的寓言以及陸續發現的古希臘寓言傳抄本編訂的。《伊索寓言》大多是動物故事,其中的《狼與小羊》《獅子與野驢》等用豺狼、獅子等兇惡的動物比喻人間的權貴,揭露他們的專橫和殘暴,反映了平民或奴隸的思想感情;《烏龜與兔》《牧人與野山羊》等總結了人們的生活經驗,教人處世和做人的道理。伊索寓言形式短小精悍,比喻恰當,形象生動,對許多歐洲文學大師的創作產生了深遠的影響。