Feebles for the Fable-Minded — Gerald M. Weinberg

For many years, I've insisted that I don't care much for short stories–and that's why I don't write them. Well, all these years, I've apparently been fooling myself. Not only do I like (some) short stories, I adore them. Not only that, but I write them. How could I have been so wrong? When preparing this collection, I just realized that *fables are short stories*–and I've always loved fables. Looking back over my reading experiences, I think I see now why I love fables so much: They have a moral, a point–a reason for existing and taking up my time. In other words, fables are short stories containing lessons. Other short (or long) stories may or may not contain lessons. Those that do contain lessons–and teach them well–those are the stories I like best. I am not saying I don't like stories that don't contain lessons, stories that merely entertain. I like being entertained. But if I'm reading for entertainment, I don't want the entertainment to be over in a minute or two. No, I want hundreds of pages of entertainment, so I like many novels–but only if they're at least 400 pages long. The longer the better. Anyway, I now confess that I do indeed like (some) short stories–so much so that I've actually written many of them. And most of them are fables, the stories I love. In case you don't believe me, I've produced this book, with more than a dozen fables from my collection. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them. - Jerry Weinberg, Corrales, New Mexico Table of Contents Introduction Feeble 1: The Fairy and the Pig Feeble 2: The Phox and the Pheasants Feeble 3: The Cricket Who Wanted to Play Cricket Feeble 4: The Cricket Who Wanted to Play Baseball Feeble 5: The Little Red Hen Feeble 6: The Dog Who Read Fables Feeble 7: Curly’s Squirrelly Nut Store Feeble 8: The Two Stags Feeble 9: The Lemmings Feeble 10: The Mongrel and the Poodle Feeble 11: The Goat and the Hippo The Goat and the Hippo–Part 2 Feeble 12: The Triplets and The Leprechaun Feeble 13: Lock, Stock, and Barrel Feeble 14: The Two Philosophers Feeble 15: The Impatient Psychiatrist ADDITIONAL READING