Aesop

 Aesop, or Æsop (c.6th. century BC), legendary Greek source of over 600 fables including The Tortoise and the Hare, written from the oral, have been translated into English by many including the Rev. George Fyler Townsend (1814-1900) and Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914).

Through the use of (mostly) animal protagonists, Aesop's fables consist of simple tales with moral endings transcending time and place so to be as relevant today as they were millennia ago. Universally popular, they still inspire many contemporary stories, plays, and movies.