THE LION, THE FOX, AND THE ASS

 


246. THE LION, THE FOX, AND THE ASS  A lion, a fox, and an ass went out hunting together. They had soon taken a large booty, which the lion requested the ass .to divide between them. The ass divided it all into three equal parts, and modestly begged the others to take their choice; at which the lion, bursting with fury, sprang upon the ass and tore him to pieces. Then, glaring at the fox, he bade him make a fresh division. The fox gathered almost the whole in one great heap for the lion’s share, leaving only the smallest possible morsel for himself. “My dear friend,” said the lion, “how did you get the knack of it so well?” The fox replied, “Me? Oh, I took a lesson from the ass.” Happy is he who learns from the misfortunes of others.


247. THE FOWLER, THE PARTRIDGE, AND THE COCK One day, as a fowler was sitting down to a scanty supper of herbs and bread, a friend dropped in unexpectedly. The larder was empty, so he went out and caught a tame partridge, which he kept as a decoy, and was about to wring her neck when she cried, “Surely you won’t kill me? Why, what will you do without me next time you go fowling? How will you get the birds to come to your nets?” He let her go at this, and went to his hen house, where he had a plump young cock. When the cock saw what he was after, he too pleaded for his life, and said, “If you kill me, how will you know the time of night? And who will wake you up in the morning when it is time to get to work?” The fowler, however, replied, “You are useful for telling the time, I know; but, for all that, I can’t send my friend supperless to bed.” And therewith he caught him and wrung his neck.


248. THE GNAT AND THE LION  Agnat once went up to a lion and said, “I am not in the least afraid of you. I don’t even allow that you are a match for .me in strength. What does your strength amount to after all? That you can scratch with your claws and bite with your teeth—just like a woman in a temper—and nothing more. But I’m stronger than you. If you don’t believe it, let us fight and see.” So saying, the gnat sounded his horn, and darted in and bit the lion on the nose. When the lion felt the sting, in his haste to crush him, he scratched his nose badly and made it bleed, but failed altogether to hurt the gnat, which buzzed off in triumph, elated by its victory. Presently, however, it got entangled in a spider’s web and was caught and eaten by the spider, thus falling prey to an insignificant insect after having triumphed over the king of the beasts.


249. THE FARMER AND HIS DOGS A farmer was snowed up in his farmstead by a severe storm and was unable to go out and procure provisions for himself and his family. So he first killed his sheep and used them for food. Then, as the storm still continued, he killed his goats. And, last of all, as the weather showed no signs of improving, he was compelled to kill his oxen and eat them. When his dogs saw the various animals being killed and eaten in turn, they said to one another, “We had better get out of this, or we shall be the next to go!”


250. THE EAGLE AND THE FOX  An eagle and a fox became great friends and determined to live near one another. They thought that the more they saw of each other the better friends they would be. So the eagle built a nest at the top of a high tree, while the fox settled in a thicket at the foot of it and produced a litter of cubs. One day the fox went out foraging for food, and the eagle, who also wanted food for her young, flew down into the thicket, caught up the fox’s cubs, and carried them up into the tree for a meal for herself and her family. When the fox came back and found out what had happened, she was not so much sorry for the loss of her cubs as furious because she couldn’t get at the eagle and pay her back for her treachery. So she sat down not far off and cursed her. But it wasn’t long before she had her revenge. Some villagers happened to be sacrificing a goat on a neighboring altar, and the eagle flew down and carried off a piece of burning flesh to her nest. There was a strong wind blowing, and the nest caught fire, with the result that her fledglings fell half roasted to the ground. Then the fox ran to the spot and devoured them in full sight of the eagle. False faith may escape human punishment, but cannot escape the divine.

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