Final answer:
Beast fables are tales where animals portray human traits, usually to teach a moral lesson, which makes the statement false. They do not center on people being turned into animals as punishment but rather on animals that embody human-like behaviors.
Step-by-step explanation:
Beast fables are a specific kind of folk tale or story in which animals are given human traits, often to teach moral lessons. The statement that they involve people being temporarily turned into animals as punishment is false. Instead, beast fables typically feature animals that act with human-like behaviors to convey moral lessons or reflect human society.
Examples of beast fables include Aesop's Fables and tales collected by the Grimm brothers, such as "The Queen Bee". In these stories, animals play essential roles either as protagonists or as characters that aid in delivering a moral. For instance, the story of "Chicken Little" teaches the lesson not to believe everything you hear, while other fables may highlight the virtues of compassion and wisdom. The key element in these tales is not transformation as a form of punishment but the presence of animals with anthropomorphic qualities that relate morals to the readers or listeners.