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(jì)的一個希臘奴隸，擅長講故事?，F(xiàn)在的《伊索寓言》是后人根據(jù)口頭流傳的寓言以及陸續(xù)發(fā)現(xiàn)的古希臘寓言傳抄本編訂的?！兑了髟⒀浴反蠖嗍莿游锕适?，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(quán)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(jié)了人們的生活經(jīng)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(dāng)，形象生動，對許多歐洲文學(xué)大師的創(chuàng)作產(chǎn)生了深遠(yuǎn)的影響。