The Lion Beaten by Man.....a fable by Jean de La Fontaine

A picture once was shown,
In which one man, alone,
Upon the ground had thrown
A lion fully grown.

Much gloried at the sight the rabble.
A lion thus rebuked their babble:—

That you have got the victory there,
There is no contradiction.
But, gentles, possibly you are
The dupes of easy fiction:
Had we the art of making pictures,
Perhaps our champion had beat yours!"


Until the lions have their historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunter.
African Proverb

The Dog and the Shadow

A Dog was crossing a river, with a piece of meat in his mouth, when he saw his own shadow reflected in the stream below. Thinking that it was another dog, with a piece of meat, he resolved to make himself master of that also; but in snapping at the supposed treasure he dropped the bit he was carrying, and so lost all.

Grasp at the shadow, and lose the substance.

The Fox and the Rooster

A Fox, one day, saw a Rooster on the roof of a barn.

“Come to me, my dear Master Rooster,” said he, “I have always heard you are such a clever fellow and I want to ask you a riddle.”

Glad to hear himself praised, the foolish Rooster came down.
And the Fox caught him, and ate him in a moment.

The praise of the wicked is always dangerous.

The Lion Beaten by Man....a fable by Jean de la Fontaine

A picture once was shown,
In which one man, alone,
Upon the ground had thrown
A lion fully grown.

Much gloried at the sight the rabble.
A lion thus rebuked their babble:—

That you have got the victory there,
There is no contradiction.
But, gentles, possibly you are
The dupes of easy fiction:
Had we the art of making pictures,
Perhaps our champion had beat yours!"


Until the lions have their historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunter.
An African Proverb