The Pancatantra is a collection of fables from India and was one of the earliest Indian books to be translated into Western languages. The translation reveals the story-telling powers of the original author, and there are notes on ancient Indian society and religion.
Pancatantra is ascribed by legend to the celebrated, half-mythical teacher Visnu Sarma. Asked by a great king to awaken the dulled intelligence of his three idle sons, the aging Sarma is said to have composed this great work as a series of entertaining and edifying fables narrated by a wide range of humans and animals.