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A Fable
"A Fable" was a short story written by Mark Twain and it is six pages in length and has 951 words. The book also includes 10 illustrations.
Unknown Binding
First published May 11, 2013
59 people want to read
About the author
Mark Twain
8,983 books18.8k followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Faulkner calling him "the father of American literature." His novels include The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), with the latter often called the "Great American Novel." Twain also wrote A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889) and Pudd'nhead Wilson (1894), and co-wrote The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (1873) with Charles Dudley Warner.
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Faulkner calling him "the father of American literature." His novels include The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), with the latter often called the "Great American Novel." Twain also wrote A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889) and Pudd'nhead Wilson (1894), and co-wrote The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (1873) with Charles Dudley Warner.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
July 19, 2021
A clever fable with animals. It felt very much in the vein of what Aesop might have written. It also well portrayed what would likely be the logic of animals.
April 23, 2017
I arranged my thoughts into a haiku, though it rings very similarly to the moral Mr. Twain provides at the end of the story itself:
"Every piece of art
Has its intended meaning,
Then there's the viewer's."
"Every piece of art
Has its intended meaning,
Then there's the viewer's."
August 21, 2024
Цю історію можна прокоментувати лише словами великого класика Оскара Вайлда «Краса в очах того, хто дивиться».
December 31, 2015
Cute but not necessarily an original fable with the moral lent at the end by the cat:
"You can find in a text whatever you bring, if you will stand between it and the mirror of your imagination..."
"You can find in a text whatever you bring, if you will stand between it and the mirror of your imagination..."
May 24, 2019
Each time I re-experience this ultrashort story, I glean something new from it. Another great mini-read from Twain.
February 3, 2026
Mission 2026: Binge reviewing (and rereading on occasion) all previous Reads, I was too slothful to review, back when I read them’
Greatest Short Stories / Short Novels
What is it all about (spoiler free)
Presented in the form of a deceptively simple allegory, the story stages a contest between two forces whose confrontation seems almost mythic in scale. What unfolds is not a battle in the heroic sense, but a demonstration—brief, ironic, and unsettling—of how outcomes are decided less by moral posture than by material reality. The narrative moves quickly, almost casually, as if the conclusion were inevitable from the start.
Why is it among the greatest?
Because Twain strips war, heroism, and moral rhetoric down to their bare bones. ‘A Fable’ is one of his most merciless pieces: compact, unsentimental, and razor-sharp. In a few paragraphs, Twain dismantles centuries of romantic language surrounding conflict and exposes the brutal arithmetic beneath it. There are no villains in the conventional sense—only systems that reward force and punish idealism.
The greatness of the story lies in its refusal to console. Twain does not mock idealism for being naïve; he mourns it for being structurally powerless. The irony is not playful but grave. By choosing the fable form—a genre traditionally associated with moral clarity—Twain delivers the opposite: a moral dissonance that lingers uncomfortably. The story’s final implication is devastating precisely because it feels obvious once stated.
Stylistically, the piece exemplifies Twain’s late mastery. The prose is plain, almost austere, allowing the idea to strike without ornament. There is no rhetorical flourish to soften the blow. The silence around the conclusion does the real work.
Why read it in the present time and thereafter?
Because ‘A Fable’ speaks directly to the mechanics of modern power. In an age saturated with moral messaging, humanitarian language, and symbolic gestures, Twain’s story reminds us that outcomes are still determined by force, resources, and institutional advantage. The fable reads like a warning against confusing ethical intention with actual leverage.
It is especially relevant in a world of performative outrage and rhetorical wars, where narratives of righteousness often substitute for structural change. Twain asks a hard, uncomfortable question: what happens to morality when it confronts power without protection?
Reading ‘A Fable’ today is sobering rather than uplifting—and that is precisely its value. It refuses fantasy. It refuses reassurance. And in doing so, it remains one of Twain’s most honest and necessary works: a small story that tells a very large, very inconvenient truth.
Most recommended.
Greatest Short Stories / Short Novels
What is it all about (spoiler free)
Presented in the form of a deceptively simple allegory, the story stages a contest between two forces whose confrontation seems almost mythic in scale. What unfolds is not a battle in the heroic sense, but a demonstration—brief, ironic, and unsettling—of how outcomes are decided less by moral posture than by material reality. The narrative moves quickly, almost casually, as if the conclusion were inevitable from the start.
Why is it among the greatest?
Because Twain strips war, heroism, and moral rhetoric down to their bare bones. ‘A Fable’ is one of his most merciless pieces: compact, unsentimental, and razor-sharp. In a few paragraphs, Twain dismantles centuries of romantic language surrounding conflict and exposes the brutal arithmetic beneath it. There are no villains in the conventional sense—only systems that reward force and punish idealism.
The greatness of the story lies in its refusal to console. Twain does not mock idealism for being naïve; he mourns it for being structurally powerless. The irony is not playful but grave. By choosing the fable form—a genre traditionally associated with moral clarity—Twain delivers the opposite: a moral dissonance that lingers uncomfortably. The story’s final implication is devastating precisely because it feels obvious once stated.
Stylistically, the piece exemplifies Twain’s late mastery. The prose is plain, almost austere, allowing the idea to strike without ornament. There is no rhetorical flourish to soften the blow. The silence around the conclusion does the real work.
Why read it in the present time and thereafter?
Because ‘A Fable’ speaks directly to the mechanics of modern power. In an age saturated with moral messaging, humanitarian language, and symbolic gestures, Twain’s story reminds us that outcomes are still determined by force, resources, and institutional advantage. The fable reads like a warning against confusing ethical intention with actual leverage.
It is especially relevant in a world of performative outrage and rhetorical wars, where narratives of righteousness often substitute for structural change. Twain asks a hard, uncomfortable question: what happens to morality when it confronts power without protection?
Reading ‘A Fable’ today is sobering rather than uplifting—and that is precisely its value. It refuses fantasy. It refuses reassurance. And in doing so, it remains one of Twain’s most honest and necessary works: a small story that tells a very large, very inconvenient truth.
Most recommended.
June 7, 2025
This was hilarious. A group of animals is fascinated by the account of a housecat, who tells of the human master's lovely painting. However, when they each go to try to see if it is as beautiful as the cat says, they all stare into a mirror instead and can't judge the painting.
July 28, 2021
Fablulous, not.
January 20, 2022
Мораль: не вешайте зеркал перед картинами.
Для такого острого писателя как Марк Твен это очень примитивно.
Для такого острого писателя как Марк Твен это очень примитивно.
July 20, 2023
Has genuinely good fable energy. Good moral too, but I feel like everyone already understands the moral intuitively.
December 31, 2025
A wonderful story about self-projection.
November 14, 2021
Li esse conto que me lembrou as fábulas de Esopo ou de La Fontaine em um sábado, numa dessas manhãs de chuva e preguiça o que fez com que a leitura tivesse um clima bem nostálgico.
Gostei bastante e recomendo para quem deseja uma leitura mais leve e rápida (é um conto curto, mas não quer dizer que não vá te dar o que pensar).
Gostei bastante e recomendo para quem deseja uma leitura mais leve e rápida (é um conto curto, mas não quer dizer que não vá te dar o que pensar).
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews