Fantastic Fables
Ambrose Bierce is well known for his war stories: An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, The Boarded Window, Killed at Resaca, Chickamauga; and his ghost stories: Present at a Hanging, A Wireless Message, A Vine on a House, A Baffled Ambuscade. But Bierce was also able to write in other genres as well, and his 1899 publication of Fantastic Fables anticipated the grotesquerie style that would emerge in the 20th century, exemplified by the works of Katherine Anne Porter.
The stories in Fantastic Fables are featured in our Favorite Fairy Tales, recommended for ages 13 to adult. They are often absurd and feature an ironic twist, illustrated by this selection that I chose at random:
An Antidote
A YOUNG Ostrich came to its Mother, groaning with pain and with its wings tightly crossed upon its stomach.
"What have you been eating?" the Mother asked, with solicitude.
"Nothing but a keg of Nails," was the reply.
"What!" exclaimed the Mother; "a whole keg of Nails, at your age! Why, you will kill yourself that way. Go quickly, my child, and swallow a claw-hammer."
These are brief and wonderful tales exhibiting yet another facet of Bierce's wit and talent. You might also enjoy his short parable, The Dog and the Bees.
Table of Contents
Alarm and Pride
An AErophobe
An Antidote
An Inadequate Fee
An Invitation
An Inflated Ambition
An Officer and a Thug
An Optimist
An Unspeakable Imbecile
At Heaven's Gate
At Large - One Temper
At The Pole
A Call to Quit
A Causeway
A Creaking Tail
A Fatal Disorder
A Flourishing Industry
A Fourfetted Right
A Harmless Visitor
A Hasty Settlement
A Matter of Method
A Needful War
A Needless Labour
A Prophet of Evil
A Protagonist of Silver
A Racial Parallel
A Revivalist Revealed
A Ship and a Man
A Smiling Idol
A Statesman
A Talisman
A Transposition
A Treaty of Peace
A Valuable Suggestion
A Weary Echo
Congress and the People
Equipped for Service
Father and Son
Fortune and the Fabulist
From the Minutes
His Fly-Speck Majesty
How Leisure Came
Philosophers Three
Physicians Two
Rejected Services
Religions of Error
Revenge
Saint and Sinner
Six and One
The Alderman and the Raccoon
The All Dog
The Ancient Order
The Angel's Tear
The Appropriate Memorial
The Ashes of Madame Blavatsky
The Austere Governor
The Australian Grasshopper
The Basking Cyclone
The Blotted Escutcheon and the Soiled Ermine
The Boneless King
The Broom of the Temple
The Bumbo of Jiam
The Catted Anarchist
The Cat and the King
The Christian Serpent
The Circular Clew
The Citizen and the Snakes
The City of Political Distinction
The Compassionate Physician
The Conscientious Official
The Crew of the Life-Boat
The Crimson Candle
The Critics
The Debaters
The Deceased and his Heirs
The Desperate Object
The Devoted Widow
The Discontented Malefactor
The Disinterested Arbiter
The Divided Delegation
The Dog and the Physician
The Dutiful Son
The Eligible Son-in-Law
The Expatriated Boss
The Fabuslist and the Animals
The Faithful Cashier
The Farmer's Friend
The Flying-Machine
The Fogy and the Sheik
The Foolish Woman
The Fugitive Office
The Good Government
The Hardy Patriots
The Highwayman and the Traveller
The Holy Deacon
The Honest Cadi
The Honest Citizen
The Honourable Member
The Humble Peasant
The Ineffective Rooter
The Ingenious Blackmailer
The Ingenious Patriot
The Judge and the Plaintiff
The Judge and the Rash Act
The Justice and His Accuser
The Kangaroo and the Zebra
The Lassoed Bear
The Legislator and the Citizen
The Life Saver
The Life-Savers
The Lion and the Rattlesnake
The Literary Astronomer
The Man and the Bird
The Man and the Lightning
The Man and the Wart
The Man of Principal
The Man with No Enemies
The Massacre
The Member and the Soap
The Mine Owner and the Jackass
The Mirror
The Moral Principle and the Material Interest
The Moral Sentiment
The Mourning Brothers
The Nightside of Character
The Noser and the Note
The No Case
The Old Man and the Pupil
The Opossum of the Future
The Optimist and the Cynic
The Overlooked Factor
The Party Manager and the Gentleman
The Party Over There
The Patriot and the Banker
The Pavior
The Penitent Elector
The Poetess of Reform
The Poet and the Editor
The Poet's Doom
The Policeman and the Citizen
The Politicians
The Politicians and the Plunder
The Power of the Scalawag
The Prerogative of Might
The Pugilists's Diet
The Rainmaker
The Reform School Board
The Returned Californian
The Return of the Representative
The Sagacious Rat
The Seeker and the Sought
The Self-Made Monkey
The Shadow of the Leader
The Sportsman and the Squirrel
The Statesman and the Horse
The Tail of the Sphinx
The Taken Hand
The Thief and the Honest Man
The Thistles upon the Grave
The Thoughtful Warden
The Thrift of Strength
The Treasury and the Arms
The Tried Assassin
The Two Poets
The Tyrant Frog
The Unchanged Diplomatist
The Various Delegation
The Witch's Steed
The Wooden Guns
The Writer and the Tramps
Three of a Kind
Three Recruits
Two Dogs
Two Footpads
Two in Trouble
Two Kings
Two of the Damned
Tow of the Pious
Two Politicians
Uncalculating Zeal
Wasted Sweets
Return to the Ambrose Bierce library.
