The moral stories are at their best told by Ambrose Bierce in his book Cobwebs from an Empty Skull. The book is divided into three sections: "Fables of Zambri, the Parsee," an assortment of over 100 fables; "Brief Seasons of Intellectual Dissipation," discussions between a fool and a philosopher, a doctor and a soldier, respectively; and "Divers Tales," 28 different stories of an eclectic nature, including The Grateful Bear, Dr. Deadwood, I Presume, Mrs. Dennison's Head, and Jim Beckwourth's Pond. (Goodreads)

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