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The fable is one of the oldest literary genres which have their roots in the great antiquity. This contribution is devoted to the current state of the genre. The author of the contribution mentions that the contemporary fable's reception is difficult and requires certain efforts. As a result, fables written in the past don't provoke interest and response, and new fables don't appear nowadays. This also refers to the destiny of the fable in Russia. In spite of the fact that the Russian literature has rich fable traditions and its genius writer of fables I. A. Krylov, we observe no further development since that culmination point. The contribution deals with the possible reasons for such a phenomenon. On the one hand, the reception is inseparably linked with the specifics of its indirectness and allegory, on the other, from the author's point of view, there is a powerful influence of changes of the society's thinking in the 21st century. Further, the author makes an attempt to outline the possible lines of development of this genre. The direct appeal to the heritage of ancient writers of fables (mainly Aesop) and its reappraisal in the context of modern society is considered to have great potentials and to open new horizons. In conclusion, the article expresses the idea that the fable's studies ought to be basically multidisciplinary and as broad as possible including the research in the field of psychology, sociology etc.