La Fontaine had many predecessors in the fable, especially in the beast fable.

India has a rich tradition of animal stories and beast fables, including one of the world's oldest collections of stories, the Panchatantra, and its later derivatives such as the Hitopadesha.

The stories may nonetheless be distinguished from other folk narratives such as legends (which generally involve belief in the veracity of the events described) and explicitly moral tales, including beast fables.

Essentially a beast fable about a witty man who tricks potential successors to believe he is dying so that they bring him expensive gifts.

The Romulus of medieval tradition therefore represents a number of traditional attributions of Latin manuscripts of beast fables.

Volpone (Italian for "sly fox") is a comedy by Ben Jonson first produced in 1606, drawing on elements of city comedy, black comedy and beast fable.

No fable, so far as appears, is of La Fontaine's invention, and La Fontaine had many predecessors in the fable, especially in the beast fable.

The beast fable or beast epic, usually a short story or poem in which animals talk, is a traditional form of allegorical writing.

Composed in the 1390s, the 626-line narrative poem is a beast fable and mock epic based on an incident in the Reynard cycle.

And I didn't care for you", then develops a beast fable based on anthropomorphized characters using music to reflect the individual states of mind of each.