Aesop, Just in Rhyme

About the Book

AESOP, JUST IN RHYME is a new version, of more than 100 favorite Aesop’s Fables. The poems are

light, humorous, many with dialogue to enhance characterization.  Several rhyme schemes are employed

to provide interest and variety.  They are intended for readers and listeners of all ages.

These stories, celebrated for over 2000 years, cleverly outline human flaws, as portrayed by birds,

fish and animals. Sometimes humans appear to catalogue their own errors.   Vanity, jealousy, excessive pride , self-righteousness  and making decisions without considering consequences,

all have their places.  We can see ourselves and our neighbors in these poems:

The vanity of the hare in ‘The Tortoise and the Hare’, (Stanza 3)

“Ha,ha,” laughed the hare, “All will agree

                                                       that you’re as fast as a wingless bee,

I’ll run around you for half an hour,

still have time for a nap and a shower.”

The tortoise said, “We’ll see.”

The presumption of the fox that he can be a lion, like his master in , ‘Lion’s Work’, (Stanza 3)

Next day the fox  saw a flock of sheep,

he sneaked up close, did not make a peep,

the shepherd captured him as he whined,

“I’m out of work and I may be fined.”

The foolish pigeons fail to see consequences,  in ‘The Kite and The Pigeons’, (Stanza 1)

The Great Pigeon Congress met to talk

of the scary sighting of a kite,

so frightened they voted, “Ask the hawk

                                                   to banish this strange threat with his might.”

The ‘morals’ or lessons that state the essence of each story have been popular for a long time even though

Aesop did  not begin them  since he spoke his stories, did not write them down, and the lesson

was obvious to all .  However they are included in AESOP JUST IN RHYME, presented in almost all

cases as a two-line original rhyme, aspiring to amuse as well as instruct.  For the fox who promoted

himself, the lesson is:

Ambition alone is not a good guide,

                                                         to move up, be sure you’re qualified.

For students to read and enjoy on their own, for parents and teachers to read to children, for adults

to experience a new version of the fables, AESOP, JUST IN RHYME offers enjoyment as well as

Aesop’s enlightenment.  It is hoped that you will find them entertaining for many years.

About the Author

John W. Murphy was born in New Haven, Connecticut. Among his favorite childhood memories is being introduced to Aesop by his father who was Mayor of the city for fourteen years. He particularly loved his father’s reading and discussion of , ‘The Tortoise and the Hare’, ‘Dog in the Manger’, and ‘The Shepherd Boy’. He is a graduate of Fordham College in New York, studied English Literature and philosophy there. He also studied Educational Practice at Yale University. As a teacher in Department of Defense Schools in Europe, he always taught Aesop to his students, but sought another approach to make them more appealing. The result is, AESOP, JUST IN RHYME.