Fables existed before the printed word as folktales that were recounted orally. Hundreds of fables have been attributed to the Greek slave Aesop, who lived between 620 and 560 B.C. Two hundred of his tales were gathered in about 320 B.C. to make up the earliest known collection.

During the medieval period, Latin translations of Aesop's fables were used as textbooks in schools. "The Crow and the Pitcher," "The Lion and the Mouse," "The Hare and the Tortoise" and "The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse" are some of Aesop's fables.

Other ancient fable collections include The Panchatantra and The Jatakas, both from India. The Panchatantra was written about 200 B.C. Structured in verse, these stories are much more elaborate than Aesop's are. The Jatakas, a huge collection of stories about the reincarnation of Buddha, dates at least as far back as the fifth century A.D.

Any comprehensive account of the African presence in early Europe should include England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Scandinavia. The history and legends of Scotland confirm the existence of "purely Black people." We see one of them in the person of Kenneth the Niger. During the tenth century Kenneth the Niger ruled over three provinces in the Scottish Highlands.

The historical and literary traditions of Wales reflect similar beliefs. According to Gwyn Jones (perhaps the world's leading authority on the subject), to the Welsh chroniclers, "The Danes coming in by way of England and the Norwegians by way of Ireland were pretty well all black: Black Gentiles, Black Norsemen, Black Host."

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