"Among all the different ways of giving counsel I think
the finest and that which pleases the most universally is
fable, in whatever shape it appears."

JOSEPH ADDISON



How shall I bring to your mind the time and
distance that separate us from the Age of
Fable? Think of what seemed to you the
longest week of your life. Think of fifty-two of
these in a year; then think of two thousand five
hundred years and try to realize that Aesop--sometimes
called the Eighth Wise Man--lived
twenty-five centuries ago and made these wonderful
tales that delight us to-day.

Shakespeare is even yet something of a mystery,
although he was born in our own era, less than
five hundred years ago; but men are still trying
to discover any new facts of his life that might
better explain his genius. A greater mystery
is grand old Homer, who has puzzled the world
for centuries. Scholars are not certain whether
the "Iliad" or "Odyssey" are the work of one
or more than one mind. Who can say? for the
thrilling tales were told--probably after the