These moralistic stories within stories date back to the Sanskrit text Panchatantra (200 BC, 300 AD). They were first translated into Arabic by a Persian named Ruzbeh who named it Book of Kalilah and Dimna and then by Abdullah Ibn al-Muqaffa and later Joseph Harris in 1679 and then remodeled in 1818. Max Mueller noted that La Fontaine was indebted to the work and other scholars have noted that Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beaumont and John Fletcher were both familiar with the fables. The Fables of Pilpay are a series of inter-woven fables, many of which deploy metaphors of anthropomorphized animals with human virtues and vices. (Summary by The introduction and Wikipedia)
Chapters
1 Preface 9 min 2 Introduction 9 min 3 The Story Of Dabschelim And Pilpay 17 min 4 The Travelling Pidgeon 14 min 5 The Falcon and the Raven 5 min 6 The greedy and ambitious Cat 7 min 7 The poor Man who became a great King 7 min 8 The Leopard and the Lion 7 min 9 The Merchant and his Children 4 min 10 The King and his two Sons 5 min 11 The Demise, the Falcon, and the Raven 3 min 12 The Countryman and several Rats 8 min 13 The Carpenter and the Ape 2 min 14 The two Travellers, and the Lion carved in Stone 17 min 15 The Fox and the Hen 8 min 16 The Sparrow and the Sparrow-hawk 6 min 17 The King who from a savage Tyrant, became benign and just 4 min 18 A Raven, a Fox, and a Serpent 2 min 19 The Crane and the Craw-fish 7 min 20 The Rabbit, the Fox, and the Wolf 6 min 21 The Lion and the Rabbit 9 min 22 The two Fishermen and the three Fishes 3 min 23 The Scorpion and the Tortoise 10 min 24 The Falcon and the Hen 3 min 25 The Nightingale and the Countryman 4 min 26 The Hunter, the Fox, and the Leopard 3 min 27 The Wolf, the Fox, the Raven, and the Camel 9 min 28 The Angel Ruler of the Sea and two Birds, called Gerandi 3 min 29 The Tortoise and two Ducks 8 min 30 Two young Merchants, the one crafty, and the other without Deceit 5 min 31 The Frog, the Craw-fish, and the Serpent 5 min 32 The Gardener and the Bear 3 min 33 The Merchant and his Friend 7 min 34 The Fox, the Wolf, and the Raven 4 min 35 The Ass and the Gardener 5 min 36 The Prince and his Minister 6 min 37 A Hermit who quitted the Desert to live at Court 7 min 38 The blind Man who travelled with one of his Friends 7 min 39 A religious Doctor and a Dervise 10 min 40 Three envious Persons that found Money 10 min 41 The ignorant Physician 15 min 42 The Raven, the Rat, and the Pigeons 7 min 43 The Partridge and the Falcon 6 min 44 The Man and the Adder 12 min 45 The Adventures of Zirac 4 min 46 A Husband and his Wife 2 min 47 The Hunter and the Wolf 9 min 48 The ravenous Cat 4 min 49 The two Friends 11 min 50 The Ravens and the Owls 11 min 51 The Origin of the Hatred between the Ravens and the Owls 4 min 52 The Elephants and the Rabbits 8 min 53 The Cat and the two Birds 5 min 54 The Dervise and the Four Robbers 7 min 55 The Merchant, his Wife, and the Robber 3 min 56 The Dervise, the Thief, and the Devil 6 min 57 The Monkeys and the Bears 16 min 58 The Mouse that was changed into a little Girl 6 min 59 The Serpent and the Frogs 5 min
