The Gnat And The Lion
A Gnat came and said to a Lion, "I do not in the least fear you, nor
are you stronger than I am. For in what does your strength consist?
You can scratch with your claws and bite with your teeth an a woman
in her quarrels. I repeat that I am altogether more powerful than
you; and if you doubt it, let us fight and see who will conquer."
The Gnat, having sounded his horn, fastened himself upon the Lion
and stung him on the nostrils and the parts of the face devoid of
hair. While trying to crush him, the Lion tore himself with his claws,
until he punished himself severely. The Gnat thus prevailed over the
Lion, and, buzzing about in a song of triumph, flew away. But shortly
afterwards he became entangled in the meshes of a cobweb and was eaten
by a spider. He greatly lamented his fate, saying, "Woe is me! that
I, who can wage war successfully with the hugest beasts, should perish
myself from this spider, the most inconsiderable of insects!"
|
|