Saroyan's Fables (1941)
Date:
November 13, 1941
Art Credits:
Illustrations by Warren Chappell
Notes:
Issued in an edition of 1000 numbered copies, each signed by the author.
Dedication: to my uncle, Aram Saroyan
Includes the Stories:
The Parable of the Loveliness of Faith in God and How it Saved the Life of at Least One Good Man
What the Intelligent Young Man Said of the Bird-Brained Young King Who Thought it was Funny to Assign People to Whimsical but Impossible Tasks
How the Bear Took Pity on the Foolish Hunter Who Sold the Bear’s Skins While it Still Surrounded the Live Bear.
The Meaningless but Beautifully Angry Remark of the Bear and His Friends on the Subject of Hypocrisy
How the Pompous Remark of the Turtle Spoiled the Last Moments of the Lion Who Was Shot by a Hunter but was Still Proud and Lonely. And How the Flea in the Elephant’s Ear Grew to Weigh Twice as Much as the Elephant, Owing to Imagination.
How the Slightly Kind-Hearted Husband Almost Lost His Wife and Donkey, and Would Have, Except for the Grace of God Operating in an Anonymous Judge, May His Wisdom Return to the Living Once Again to Protect All Wretches With Generous Impulses.
What Happens If You Try to Satisfy Some People
The Embarrassment that Came to the Crook from Odessa Who Tried to Swindle the Bright Boy of Bitlis.
The Tribulations of the Simple Husband Who Wanted Nothing More than to Eat Goose but was Denied this Delight by His Unfaithful Wife and Her Arrogant but Probably Handsome Lover
How the City Slicker Made a Monkey Out of the King Who Thought He Was Too Smart to be Fooled by Anyone, Let Alone a Common Old-Time Pitchman
What the Armenian Butcher Said to the Armenian Barber Without Speaking, In the Presence of the Astounded King and the Astounded King’s Unastounded but Very Suspicious Spy
How the Devil was Humiliated Three Times by the Young Native of Bitlis Who Never so Much as Went to School
The Lies that Bald-Headed Man and the Man with the Running Nose Told the Man with the Crooked Leg, in a Small Context, and What he Said in Reply.
How the King Who Wanted to Believe the Blind of Hist Realm Were Nice People Got Back His Gold Coin from the Blind Thief Who Looked Like a Saint but Acted Human Just the Same.
The Surprise the Rabbit Got Who Imitated the Roaring Lion
How the Mohammedan Period of Fasting Was Brought to an End Because Now and Then Even a Handful of Deaf People are Thrown Together by Humanity for the Purpose of Sending a Little Laughter Down the Ages
How the Dishonest Traders Outwitted Each Other but Died in the End Nevertheless and Unwittingly Caused Little Children to Thank God for Flowers
What Happed to the Wise Guys Who Scoffed at the Family Man Whose Faith was so Great that even in Tragedy He Said, Praise God, He Knows What He’s Doing.
One of the Long and Confidential Prayers the Religious Old Armenian of Fresno Used to Make Every Wednesday Night at the First Armenian Presbyterian Church About Twenty Years Ago, and How Empty the World is Without Him.
The Severe but Instructive Words that were Said to the Poor Man Who was Under the Impression that Being Poor Entitled Him Also to be Slovenly, Which Even a Couple of Centuries Ago was Regarded as Nonsense.
What the Man Who Was Sometimes Crazy but Always a Democrat Said to the Young King Who Was Sometimes Bored but Always Willing to Learn.
How Difficult it is for a Man to Enjoy Living if His Wife is Socially Ambitious and Goes Around Telling Fantastic Lies About His Clairvoyant Powers, and How One Poor Cobbler Got Out of the Awful Mess
What the Priest Said to the Assassin Who Had Broken the Standard Rules for Inhuman Behavior.
How the Hair of the Women is Long, the Understanding Short, and What a Ghastly Lack of Appreciation There is in Them for Genius.
The Problem of the Unhappy Little Boy Whose Father Regarded Him as a Child, Instead of a Personality, Little Suspecting that Anybody Capable of Knowing Sorrow is Ageless and Will Therefore Refuse to Have a Wounded Heart Healed by a Kewpie Doll.
My Grandmother Lucy’s Magnificent Parable of the Three Instructions, and How They Brought the Half-Wit Husband Home to His Utterly Unattractive Wife After Eighteen Long Years, and How I Think He Could Have Used a Fourth Instruction.
The Lovely Thing that Happened to the Beautiful Step-Daughter Who Was Cemented into the Tower by the Bad Step-Mother.
Additional Materials:
In the Forever Saroyan Collection:
Saroyan's Fables, 1941, Harcourt, Brace, and Company, inscribed by the author, includes original slipcase, B174
Saroyan's Fables, 1941, Harcourt, Brace, and Company, inscribed by Uncle Aram Saroyan, includes original slipcase, B175
