Vincent Persichetti composed twenty-five pieces that he labeled parables. Most of these are for solo instruments. This paper will examine how the parable series fits into his oeuvre of work. Also considered will be what Persichetti meant by a parable in music and how that applies to his music. This paper will focus on the Parable for Solo Double Bass but will also compare it to his solo parables for viola, bassoon, trombone, tuba, French horn, and trumpet. A theoretical consideration will be made on how the bass parable was composed. This includes several paradigms and examples of how they apply to the bass parable. A general consideration of composition is made here as well as how it could apply to autogenesis. Persichetti's ideas of composition include descriptions of his own music as either graceful or gritty. He also said that he composed by the method of autogenesis and this paper considers what he meant by this.