This article examines Axel Bakunts’s adaptations of the fables by the medieval Armenian writer Vardan Aygektsi, as well as Bakunts’s perception of the Armenian Middle Ages. Axel Bakunts translated forty of Aygektsi’s fables, and a comparison between the Classical Armenian originals and their vernacular renderings reveals the writer’s exceptionally nuanced and consistent approach to his task.The choice of the fable genre itself also falls within Bakunts’s literary predilections and the broader context of the development of short prose. This was the last work by Axel Bakunts published in 1935, yet until the 1950s his role in the translation of Aygektsi’s fables remained unacknowledged. In 1956, a truncated version of the translations was published.The relevance of this topic stems both from the expressive content of the fables themselves, and from Bakunts’s interpretative strategies as a translator, as well as from his reflections on the developmental patterns of the medieval period. Most significantly, however, is the potential afforded by the vitality of the fable genre in uncovering the lyrical essence of literature—an aspect this article also seeks to explore.

KeywordsVardan Aygektsi fable Middle Ages Book of the Fox Axel Bakunts.