"A Little Fable" (German: "Kleine Fabel") is a short story written by

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It ...

between 1917 and 1923, likely in 1920. The anecdote, only one paragraph in length, was not published in Kafka's lifetime and first appeared in ''Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer'' (1931). The first English translation by Willa and Edwin Muir was published by

Martin Secker Martin Secker (6 April 1882 – 6 April 1978), born Percy Martin Secker Klingender, was a London publisher who was responsible for producing the work of a distinguished group of literary authors, including D. H. Lawrence, Thomas Mann, Norman Dougl ...

in London in 1933. It appeared in '' The Great Wall of China. Stories and Reflections'' (

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Schocken Books Schocken Books is a book publishing imprint of Penguin Random House that specializes in Jewish literary works. Originally established in 1931 by Salman Schocken as Schocken Verlag in Berlin, the company later moved to Palestine and then the Uni ...

, 1946).

The story

"Alas", said the mouse, "the whole world is growing smaller every day. At the beginning it was so big that I was afraid, I kept running and running, and I was glad when I saw walls far away to the right and left, but these long walls have narrowed so quickly that I am in the last chamber already, and there in the corner stands the trap that I am running into." "You only need to change your direction," said the cat, and ate it up.

In popular culture

A comics adaptation of the story, illustrated by

Peter Kuper Peter Kuper (; born September 22, 1958) is an American alternative comics artist and illustrator, best known for his autobiographical, political, and social observations. Besides his contributions to the political anthology ''World War 3 Illustr ...

, is included in '' Give It Up!''. A three-language version in German, English and Spanish, illustrated by Elvira Calderón, edited by Elena Moreno Sobrino

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is S ...

: Calambac Verlag, (2013)

David Foster Wallace David Foster Wallace (February 21, 1962 – September 12, 2008) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and university professor of English and creative writing. Wallace is widely known for his 1996 novel '' Infinite Jest'', whi ...

quotes and discusses the story in his collection of essays ''

Consider the Lobster ''Consider the Lobster and Other Essays'' (2005) is a collection of essays by novelist David Foster Wallace. It is also the title of one of the essays, which was published in ''Gourmet'' magazine in 2004. The title alludes to '' Consider the Oyst ...

''.

References

External links

A comic book adaptation of A Little Fable by Vincent Stall
1920s short stories Short stories by Franz Kafka Short stories published posthumously Fables Martin Secker books {{1920s-story-stub