Animal Fables

Abstract

This is a very well organized booklet. There are ten fables (BC, AD, LM, FG, SW, DLS, BW, TB, DS, and TH). Each has two or three illustrations. There are notes at the end for English-reading learners of Japanese, and there are translations of the stories. The book runs backwards from our point of view. The best illustration may be that for TB. My attention is caught by three textual decisions. SW is told in the poorer version. The moral for BW is You mustn't fool people by telling lies all the time. In TB, the bear says Good gracious, he's pretending to be dead! (I do not think the story works if the bear knows that the man is pretending.)