Take Aesop. He was man who lived in ancient Greece and he loved to tell stories. His fables were mostly about animals and he tried to teach a moral or lesson in each story. Two of the most favorites are "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" and "The Tortoise and the Hare." Around 300 BC some enterprising writer wrote down Aesop's Fables and we are still telling and reading them today.
You can read most of Aesop's Fables at http://www.literature.org/authors/aesop/...
Once there was a woman named Scheherazade who told a story a night for 1001 nights to save her life. She was one of the many slaves of the Sultan Schahriah who apparently had the head removed of anyone who displeased him. Scheherazade came up with a way to keep her head on her shoulders. Drawing on Persian, Arabian and Indian folk tales handed down through several centuries, she entertained the Sultan with stories. But she would stop at the most exciting part and make the Sultan wait until the next evening to hear the rest. She would then start another story. After 1001 nights, the Sultan, apparently impressed with her abilities, granted Scheherazade her life and made her one of his wives. Her stories were written down and are still read and told today. Remember how Ali Baba outwitted the Forty Thieves, the many adventures of Sinbad and of course Aladdin and his magic lamp?
Sir Richard Burton's "original" translation of the Arabian Nights into English can be found at http://www.geocities.com/Athens/4824/ara...
Grimm's Fairy Tales were perfect for telling around Halloween! The tales collected by the Grimm brothers, Jacob and Wilhelm, were full of evil stepmothers, witches, goblins, demons and assorted monster, human or otherwise and not a single fairy as we know them today. The tales reflected the hard and cruel life that many lived in Central Europe in 18th century. In fact the tales collected mainly from Germany were so terrifying that religious leaders and educators forced the Grimm Brothers to revise the tales and remove taboo topics. Today most of the tales have been further watered down to eliminate the violence and gore. But favorites such as "Cinderella," "Little Red Riding Hood" and "Snow White" still retain enough punch to excite the listener when told by a talented storyteller.
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