The Subject “<i>The Fox and the Stork</i>” in the Greco-Roman and Classical Fables and in the Folkloric Tales of Spain, Italy and Russia*

Abstract

In this article, we study, as said in the title, the subject of The Fox and The Stork in the narrative forms Fable and Folkloric Tale. We consider that it is convenient to handle in the Introduction the characterization of both forms, giving the opinions and characteristics that have been provided by prestigious authors. We also remark the similitudes and differences that there are among these forms. After this, we carry out a Semiotic Study of four fables and five folkloric tales that handle the same subject and compose the corpus. The starting point in the fables and the tales is a situation of conflict that has as its origin, the mocking and offence that the Fox, which is an animal characterized by its cunning malignity, does to the Stork in order to enjoy itself. The strategy used by the Fox to mock and offend the Stork, and then of the Stork to revenge, is to invite each one to have lunch, and the means are to serve each other, when making the host, a quite inappropriate food in a recipient which has characteristics such that the invited one is unable to enjoy it. We verify that the narrative scheme, the development and the final outcome are the same in the fables and the folkloric tales, even though the areas considered are very diverse: Greece and Rome (greco-roman fables), France and Spain (classical fables) and Spain, Italy and Russia (folkloric tales) which have different cultural and linguistic characteristics.