Tom McNeal's Fables

Abstract

I have read the first thirty and scattered other of these 200 or so fables and I come away unimpressed. The author is presented as editor of The Mail and Breeze, and the fables may well have been columns. These are brief homey lessons, referring to some modern appliances and using some contemporary slang. Narrative seems, for example, to be the word of choice for rear end. The stories seem quite predictable. For a typical story, try A Kansas Cow (30). The accompanying cartoons may have some historical value. The preface contains a funny popularized life of Aesop and ends with an engaging invitation to the reader: If the point to any fable is not clear to him...call on the publisher. He has agreed to do his best in making the application of these fables clear to the earnest and thoughtful reader. The accompanying cartoon shows a man at his desk with a shotgun. Its caption is The Publisher will explain.