Oral storytelling, fables, and cross-cultural traditions

A set of vocabulary flashcards drawn from the lecture notes on fables, folktales, and cross-cultural storytelling.

Bodhisatta

In Buddhist literature, the Bodhisatta is the future Buddha in his prior lives; here he is depicted as a Brahmin who is reborn as a golden goose.

Golden Goose

A goose with golden plumage whose feathers can be sold to provide for the family; the tale centers on greed and moral consequences.

Golden feathers

The feathers are golden when attached; if plucked against the Bodhisatta's wish they stop being golden and the bird loses the ability to fly.

Jātaka

Buddhist birth tales recounting the Buddha’s past lives, often with moral or ethical lessons.

Pañcatantra

Ancient Indian collection of animal fables that explore ethics, politics, and practical wisdom, often through courtly plots.

Aesopic tradition

Greek fables attributed to Aesop; short tales featuring animals or people with moral or practical lessons; with cross-cultural parallels.

Fable

A short narrative, usually with animals, that conveys a moral or lesson.

Folktale

A traditional narrative passed on orally across generations; may include magical elements and varied purposes.

Tale

A broad term for a narrative, oral or written, not necessarily with a fixed moral.

Myth

A traditional story often involving deities or cosmic origins, explaining beliefs or natural phenomena.

Legend

A traditional story about heroic figures or events, sometimes with historical elements but embellished over time.

Oral storytelling

The practice of passing stories from generation to generation by spoken word, not written text.

Didactic

Designed to teach a moral or lesson, common in traditional storytelling.

Trickster archetype

A clever, often mischievous character (e.g., Coyote, Brer Rabbit, Anansi, Fox) who uses wit to outsmart others; some tales praise cleverness, others show its pitfalls.

The Boy Who Cried Wolf

A tale illustrating that liars are not believed, even when they tell the truth, highlighting distrust and the consequences of deceit.