fabulist (n.)

约于1300年，“虚假，虚构的叙述； 谎言，假装”，来自古法语 fable “故事，寓言，故事； 戏剧，戏剧，小说； 谎言，虚假”（12世纪），源自拉丁语 fabula “故事，带有教训的故事，故事，叙述，帐户； 常见的谈话，新闻”，字面意思是“被告知的东西”，来自 fari “说话，讲述”，源自 PIE 词根 *bha-（2）“说话，讲述，说话”。

“动物故事”的狭义意义（14世纪早期）来自伊索寓言的流行。在现代民间传说术语中，被定义为“通过以人类方式行事的动物角色讲述有关人类本性的短小幽默故事”[“牛津英语民俗词典”]。

The fable which is naturally and truly composed, so as to satisfy the imagination, ere it addresses the understanding, beautiful though strange as a wild-flower, is to the wise man an apothegm, and admits of his most generous interpretation. When we read that Bacchus made the Tyrrhenian mariners mad, so that they leapt into the sea, mistaking it for a meadow full of flowers, and so became dolphins, we are not concerned about the historical truth of this, but rather a higher poetical truth. We seem to hear the music of a thought, and care not If the understanding be not gratified. [Thoreau, "A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers"]

自然而真实地构成的寓言，以满足想象力为先，然后才是理解力，像野花一样美丽而奇怪，对于智者来说是格言，并且容许他最慷慨的解释。当我们读到酒神使得提利昂的水手发疯，以至于他们跳进海里，误以为是一片充满花朵的草地，从而变成海豚，我们并不关心这个历史真相，而是更高的诗意真相。我们似乎听到了一种思想的音乐，不在乎理解是否得到满足。[梭罗，“康科德和梅里马克河上的一周”]