fable

But refuſe prophane and olde wiues fables, and exerciſe thy ſelfe rather vnto godlineſſe.

I say it would look like a fable to report that this gentleman gives away all which is the overplus of a great fortune by secret methods to other men.

For the moral (as Bossu observes,) is the first business of the poet, as being the groundwork of his instruction. This being formed, he contrives such a design, or fable, as may be most suitable to the moral;