This paper compares Kalīlah wa Dimnah and Aesop Fables focusing on roles of animal characters and their symbols as well as the teachings of the stories. In the point of animal characters and their symbols, the two works usually use animals as actors r ...

This paper compares Kalīlah wa Dimnah and Aesop Fables focusing on roles of animal characters and their symbols as well as the teachings of the stories. In the point of animal characters and their symbols, the two works usually use animals as actors representing typical human being, not as natures of animals. This is a common feature of animal fables reflecting on real life and its morals. In the point of the teachings of the stories, two works show commonly realistic and egoistic and practical instructions. But Kalīlah wa Dimnah complies teachings of encouraging the good and punishing the evil more than Aesop fables, and it could be owing to the religion of Islam. Also Kalīlah wa Dimnah implies rule of natural consequences of one's own misdeed more than Aesop Fables, and it could be owing to its origin, the Panchatantra. In the point of satire, Kalīlah wa Dimnah deals the matters of dictatorship and unjustness by effective ways while Aesop Fables deals scarcely this kind of matters. There are more than seven common stories between two works, and this point is suggestive of transmission or circulation or exchange of literary works among different civilizations.