Which term refers to a simple story that illustrates a moral or spiritual lesson?

The correct choice highlights a parable as a straightforward narrative designed to convey a moral or spiritual lesson. Parables are characterized by their simplicity and often feature everyday situations or characters that people can easily relate to. This narrative style allows for deeper meanings about human behavior, ethics, and values to emerge through the story's context.

In literature, parables are particularly effective because they prompt the audience to reflect on their own lives and consider how the lessons apply to their own experiences. They often use familiar scenarios to illustrate complex ideas in a digestible form, making them a powerful teaching tool across various cultures and religions.

While allegories, fables, and myths also serve similar purposes of imparting lessons or truths, they do so in different ways. Allegories tend to be more complex and involve symbolic figures and actions that stand for larger concepts. Fables often include animals with human traits and usually conclude with explicitly stated moral lessons. Myths typically address the origins of the world or fundamental truths about human existence, often involving gods and supernatural elements rather than focusing on direct moral instruction in a simple narrative format.

Thus, a parable is distinct in its straightforward approach to teaching a moral or spiritual lesson through relatable stories.