Aesop’s fable The Lion and the Mouse: a multicultural perspective
What is it about?
Fable scholarship (Lefkowitz 2006) has focused on adaptation of Aesop’s fables and viewed adaptation as making a story of one’s own, because Aesopic tradition has been highly adaptive as manifested in the various versions of fables. The study explores shifts in Aesop’s fable The Lion and the Mouse to highlight shifts in multicultural transformations of it, as manifested through translation. It examines Modern Greek (2003 and 2012), English (1996), Russian (2012) and Ukrainian (1990) versions of the fable to shape local perception of it.
Why is it important?
Analysis shows that translators (as storytellers) transform aspects of the fable in pragmatically significant ways: they add up to the adaptation process conforming to expectations their target audiences may have. The study concludes that the moral message of the fable reflects features pertaining to their respective audiences.