Wendy Hulsey, age 8, of Smyrna, Georgia, for her question:

Who wrote Aesop's Fables?

Kind manners make everybody feel warm and friendly. Sensible people always try to be polite. This is courtesy. Sensible people also try to tell the truth. Sometimes it seems hard to do, but it always works out for the best. This is honesty. It takes a long, long time to learn why courtesy and honesty are such good ideas. You also need a lot of practice. But when at last you understand how they work, you get a very grand and comfortable feeling.

There were a lot of sensible people around, even 2,600 years ago. They wanted to be polite and truthful, but often these two good ideas did not go together. In those days a king could do whatever he liked. Suppose someone tried to tell a cruel king that he scared his people out of their heads. The truth would make him furious. He might throw the person in a dungeon or order the guard to chop off his head.

So in those days, it was risky to speak the truth, even politely. But in Greece there lived a man who solved this tricky problem. His name was Aesop    and Aesop did not win a beauty contest or get to be a star athlete. This dumpy little man had crooked legs and a crooked face. Besides, he was a slave, though later his master set him free.

Aesop knew that the bare truth may make people angry or ashamed. So he found a way to point out their mistakes and make them laugh instead. He invented tales about animals that act like people. His animal characters did kind and cruel things, silly and sensible things    just as people do. He told how a hard working ant saved food while a grasshopper played and sang all summer.   Come winter, the silly grasshopper starved, but the sensible ant did not. He told how a slow poke turtle won a race with a speedy hare, who happened to be a foolish show off. He told about a silly, greedy person who killed a goose that layed eggs of pure gold.

These animal stories made everybody laugh. But they were more than just funny jokes. Each one had a hidden message that made people think quietly about themselves. They wondered: Can this mean me? Maybe I am a big show off, like that silly bare. Maybe I waste my time, like that lazy grasshopper. These animal stories with secret messages are called fables. They point out people's mistakes politely, in a funny way that does not hurt their feelings.

Aesop once visited a kindly king whose people were angry and refused to obey the laws. He told these people a fable about a pond full of squabbling frogs. They blamed everything on their king and got themselves a new one. But he was a cruel ruler. The frogs kicked this king out and got another one. But he was a much more cruel meany. The people laughed at this frog fable. But later they quietly thought about the message    and decided to listen to their own kindly old king.

People told Aesop's fables when they wanted to point out a person's mistakes, politely. They praised his honesty and his gentle jokes. Much later they printed his stories in books. People have enjoyed Aesop's Fables through more than 2,000 years. We still read them, smile and quietly wonder: Can there be a hidden message here for ME?