224.The Lion’s Share
THE LION went once a-hunting along with the Fox, the Jackal, and the Wolf. They hunted and they hunted till at last they surprised a Stag, and soon took its life. Then came the question how the spoil should be divided. “Quarter me this Stag,” roared the Lion; so the other animals skinned it and cut it into four parts. Then the Lion took his stand in front of the carcass and pronounced judgment: “The first quarter is for me in my capacity as King of Beasts; the second is mine as arbiter; another share comes to me for my part in the chase; and as for the fourth quarter, well, as for that, I should like to see which of you will dare to lay a paw upon it.”
“Hump,” grumbled the Fox as he walked away with his tail between his legs; but he spoke in a low growl—
“YOU MAY SHARE THE LABOURS OF THE GREAT, BUT YOU WILL NOT SHARE THE SPOIL.”
223.The Lion, the Wolf, and the Fox
A LION, growing old, lay sick in his cave. All the beasts came to visit their king, except the fox. The wolf therefore, thinking that he had a capital opportunity, accused the fox to the lion of not paying any respect to him who had the rule over them all and of not coming to visit him.
At that very moment the fox came in and heard these last words of the wolf. The lion roaring out in a rage against him, the fox sought an opportunity to defend himself and said, “And who of all those who have come to you have benefited you so much as I, who have travelled from place to place in every direction, and have sought and learnt from the physicians the means of healing you?”
The lion commanded him at once to tell him the cure, when he replied, “You must flay a wolf alive and wrap his skin yet warm around you.”
The wolf was at once taken and flayed; whereon the fox, turning to him, said with a smile, “You should have moved your master not to ill will, but to good will.”
❖ The good cure will not always cost too much.
❖ Keep good company and you shall be of the number (Kansas).
❖ Who keeps company with a wolf is not the sole lord and master of ruin and disaster.
222.The Lion, the Mouse, and the Fox
A LION, fatigued by the heat of a summer’s day, fell fast asleep in his den. A mouse ran over his mane and ears and woke him from his slumbers. He rose up and shook himself in great wrath, and searched every corner of his den to find the mouse. A fox seeing him said:
“A fine lion you are, to be frightened of a mouse.”
“It is not the mouse I fear,” said the lion; “I resent his familiarity and ill-breeding.”
❖ If you excuse yourself you accuse yourself.
❖ Many excuses make one sullen.
221.The Lion, the Fox, and the Donkey
THE LION, the fox and the donkey entered into an agreement to assist each other in the chase. Having secured a large booty, the lion on their return from the forest asked the donkey to allot his due portion to each of the three partners in the treaty. The donkey carefully divided the spoil into three equal shares and modestly requested the two others to make the first choice. The lion, bursting out into a great rage, devoured the donkey. Then he requested the fox to do him the favor to make a division. The fox accumulated all that they had killed into one large heap and left to himself the smallest possible morsel.
The lion said, “Who has taught you, my very excellent fellow, the art of division? You are perfect to a fraction.”
He replied, “I learned it from the donkey, by witnessing his fate.”
❖ Happy is the man who learns from the misfortunes of others, he is perhaps happier than the man who only loiters well.
❖ Having a fine-looking education among the ill-bred is not all there is to mastering life.
