Aesop’s Fables are among the earliest and most enduring works used to form the moral imagination of young students. Passed down through centuries of oral and written tradition, these short narratives present clear moral lessons through simple stories drawn from ordinary life, often using animals to reflect human strengths and weaknesses. Their purpose is not entertainment alone, but instruction: to train the judgment, sharpen the understanding of cause and consequence, and prepare the mind to recognize virtue and vice in real life. For this reason, Aesop’s Fables have long held a respected place in classical education, especially in the early stages of moral and literary formation. The Classical Liberal Arts Academy presents the complete collection of Aesop’s Fables here for careful reading, reflection, and study by both students and parents.
Contents
Lesson 185. The Descent of the Holy Ghost.
1. Ten days after the Ascension of Jesus Christ was celebrated the Jewish Pentecost. On this day, while the apostles and disciples were still within the upper chamber, suddenly there was heard the sound as if it were of a great wind coming from heaven. At the same time there appeared cloven tongues of fire, that sat upon each one present.
2. In a moment all were filled with the Holy Ghost. No longer timid or fearful, the apostles sallied forth to preach Christ and Him crucified. Jerusalem was filled with strangers who had come up from all parts of the world to celebrate the feast of Pentecost. Soon the news spread abroad, and in a short time an immense multitude assembled round the house in which the apostles were. But what was their astonishment when each one heard the apostles speaking in his own tongue !
3. Amazed and confounded they asked : ” Are not these Galileans who speak ? and how comes it that we every one hear our own tongue ? ” But others said : ” They are full of new wine.”
4. Then Peter rose, and standing with the eleven, said : ” Men of Judea, and all you that dwell in Jerusalem, know that these men are not drunk, but in them are fulfilled the words of the prophet Joel : ‘ And it shall come to pass and I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh.’
5. “Moreover, this also hear: Jesus of Nazareth, a man who, by the wonders and miracles He wrought in your midst, proved Himself sent by God, was crucified and put to death by wicked men; but now He is in heaven, seated at the right hand of God. It is He that has poured out His Spirit upon us, as you see; and it is certain that Jesus is the Savior and the Lord of heaven and earth.”
6. When the multitude heard this, they were touched with compunction, and asked Peter what they would do. But he answered : ” Do penance, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.” On this occasion about three thousand were baptized. With them began that miraculous expansion of the Church, that, increasing day by day, ended in the conversion of the world and the establishment of Christianity.
7. On the day of Pentecost the Holy Ghost enlightened the minds of the multitude, that they might understand the apostles ; but at Babel God confounded the multitude, that by the confusion of tongues their pride might be humbled and their vain project stopped.
8. The first Jewish Pentecost was celebrated at Mount Sinai, amid thunder and lightning. There God proclaimed the Old Law. On the first Christian Pentecost the Holy Ghost came in the form of fiery tongues, that He might confirm and give testimony of the New Law. The Jewish Pentecost was celebrated during the harvest feast ; on the first Christian Pentecost the Holy Ghost reaped a rich harvest of converts among the Jews.
Lesson 186. Peter Cures the Lame Man.
1. Shortly after Peter’s first sermon to the Jews, and the miraculous conversion of the three thousand, Peter and John went up to the Temple to pray. A man who had been lame from his birth was every day carried by his friends and laid at one of the gates of the Temple, that he might beg alms from those who entered.
2. When this man saw Peter and John entering, he begged an alms from them. Peter said to him: “Gold or silver I have none to give, but what I have I will give: in the name of Jesus Christ, rise and walk.”
On the spot the man rose, and, leaping for joy, entered the Temple, praising God.
3. When the multitude saw this, they stood confounded and amazed. Peter, seeing their astonishment, said: “Why do you wonder at this? or why do you look at us as if by our power we had made this man to walk? Know it is in the name and by the power of Jesus of Nazareth that this man walks.”
This discourse, and the sight of the miracle that had been wrought, produced so great an impression on the multitude that five thousand people were converted and baptized.
Lesson 187. The Lives of the First Christians
1. Nothing could exceed the holiness of the lives of the first Christians. All had but one heart, and all were animated with the same spirit. The apostles were unwearied in their labors, and the faithful were constant in the breaking of bread and in the labor of prayer.
2. All their goods were in common. Those who had fields or houses sold them and placed the price in the hands of the apostles, who distributed to each according as he needed. Soon their unbounded charity to the poor and their brotherly love for each other began to produce their effects. Both Jew and Gentile were forced to respect them. Their numbers increased daily.
