More fables for modern times. For other fables, both Renaissance and contemporary, see here.

A carpenter left her hammer out in the rain, since she used a nail gun. The nail gun boasts to the hammer that it is more useful, but the hammer replies that even when rusty it does more without electricity.

A cell phone bedazzles its owner with its shiny screen, which irritates the engineers that designed its processing power.

An ethicist devised a solution for a major problem of autonomy using artificial intelligence and crowdsourcing, and received the highest accolades from his professional society.

An artist created an installation of mirrors to mock her viewers’ self-absorption. But the viewers took selfies in the installation. One viewer got lost in the installation for days, and only escaped by breaking a number of mirrors. “Why that’s bad luck,” another said. Yet the incident enhanced the artist’s fame, and her photo appeared around the world.

A vine thought it was ill and asked the tree for a consult. The tree, beleaguered by the vine’s growth, replied that it was not ill at all, in the hope that the vine’s illness would proceed unchecked and weaken it further. But the vine took such cheer in the tree’s counsel that it grew stronger.

A man ate nothing but seeds and fruit in the hope of attaining a great age. Yet his concern for his health made him appear much older than he actually was.

A dinner roll and butter were disputing which of them was superior. The roll expounded on the way the yeast microorganisms converted sugars into carbon dioxide, and combined with viscoelastic gluten. The butter referred to its water-in-oil emulsion from its milk proteins. Their debate made no impression on a five-year-old, who devoured them both.