自戰國（前四七五至前二二一年）莊子（約前三六九至前二八六年）創舉「寓言」標幟以降，歷代諸家詮釋「寓言」之性質、形式、內涵、外延……，爲之立論，莫不雜說紛陳，予人莫所適從之感。 知識分子面對學術是非，不應抱持中立態度，須有風骨予以探究。筆者有感於古今鑽研「寓言文學」學者，頗多專精其領域之「發展史」、「內部結構」與「諸子思想」等深度，卻罕見連結相異領域之知識以探討其廣度；而鑽研「文字學」學者，亦多趨向「考古」爲主，忽略此項工具亦能爲研究他類領域之利器。 知而必行也。筆者於本文採取「藉外論之」態度，以「文字學」知識爲經，以「寓言文學」場域爲緯，交織二者相異領域，即活用「文字學」之「本義、引申義、假借義」語詞三義，重新詮釋「寓言文學」本質「故事、聯想、寓意」之意義。希冀注入新意，釐清其治亂。

Since allegory was created by Chuang-tzu (369-286 B.C.) during the Warring States (475-221 B.C.), the scholars of every dynasty tried to define "allegory" the character, form, connotation, extension...etc. but the theories were so many that was sometimes confusing. Most scholars study the development and structure many theories about allegory. Some study etymology with the approach of archaeometry without considering the theory of etymology could be a practical tool to apply on other fields in literature. Being a scholar, researching is an on-going study based on a different point of view despite most people think. The author intergrates the domain of etymology and allegory. He tries to refine allegory including some elements "story, association and implied meaning" with the elements "denotation, extended meaning and borrowed definition" of etymology. Hopefully in this way, more scholars may study allegory in an ordinary approach.