2 A Quantitative& Qualitative Approach to the Animal Images in Aesop’s Fables
Animals make up most of fables in Aesop’s Fables; these animals can think and speak like human beings. Generally speaking, they are the incarnation of human beings and represent different people in the society. Using the simplest language, the readers can feel its realism, sensuousness, beauty and magic from the animal’s fables and realize the personification in the fables by closely observing the actions and living habits of animals. The personified animal images can thus be categorized into three groups in Table 1: the positive images, the negative images and the neutral images. The positive images refer to the animals in Aesop’s Fables that represent some well-accepted positive cultural traits; the negative images refer to the animals that symbolize some unwelcome cultural connotations; the neutral images refer to the animals in Aesop’s Fables are not restricted to the positive or negative cultural frames, they may assume a good or bad streak in a given fable.
Table 1: Three Types of Animal Images in Aesop’s Fables
　Species    　Type of Images    Positive    Negative    Neutral
Mammals    fox            √
    dog, hound            √
    cat        √    
    mice        √    
    bear        √    
    wolf            √
    lion            √
    hare        √    
    stag, fawn        √    
    monkey, ape        √    
Poultry    horse        √    
    cock        √    
    bull, ox    √        
    sow, boar            √
    lamb, goat, sheep            √
    goose        √    
    ass        √    
    mule            √
    weasel        √    
Reptiles    snail        √    
    snake            √
    frog        √    
    tortoise        √    
Insects    grasshopper            √
    ant            √
    flea            √
    bee        √    
Birds    swan            √
    crow            √ 《伊索寓言》中的动物形象(2):http://www.youerw.com/yingyu/lunwen_7400.html