I would like to show three things here, the first two of which can be considered together and the third of which emerges from them. First, I want to show that there is a structure and purpose akin to fables in early moments of Descartes' texts throughout his career; second, that this structure and purpose mean that the method he developed is neither as simple nor as pure as he claimed; and third, that, with these first two readings of Descartes' philosophy at hand, the mind's faculties are reformed thanks to the imagination, which is itself a faculty.