The fellow in the moral tale is not really wicked (10)
I believe the answer is:
pardonable
'not really wicked' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'the fellow in the moral tale' is the wordplay.
'the fellow' becomes 'don' (both can mean an academic).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'the moral tale' becomes 'parable' (I've seen this before).
'don' placed into 'parable' is 'PARDONABLE'.
'is' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for pardonable that I've seen before include "Capable of being forgiven" , "likely to go unpunished?" , "not deserving censure" , "not too serious?" , "That may be forgiven" .)