Mat 13:18 Hear you therefore the parable of the sower.

"Parable" is Greek for "analogy." It doesn't mean simply "educational story" as it has come to mean in English. The fact that Christ speaks in analogies, that is symbols, it critical in understanding the Gospel.

Alternative version: Here then the analogy of the spreading.

"Sower" is from speirô, which is a verb, not a noun. It means "to sow seed," "to scatter like seed," and "to beget offspring. All of these shades of meaning are at work here.