'The Ass, the Cock and the Lion'

'The Ass, the Cock and the Lion', an illustration by John Vernon Lord 

in Aesop's Fables, Jonathan Cape, 1989, page 31

The Text:

The Ass, the Cock and the Lion

AN Ass and a Cock lived in a farm-yard together. One day a hungry Lion passing by and seeing the Ass in good condition, resolved to make a meal of him. Now, they say that there is nothing a Lion hates so much as the crowing of a Cock; and at that moment the Cock happening to crow, the Lion straightway made off with all haste from the spot. The Ass, mightily amused to think that a Lion should be frightened at a bird, plucked up courage and galloped after him, delighted with the notion of driving the king of beasts before him. He had, however, gone no great distance, when the Lion turned sharply round upon him, and made an end of him in a trice.

Moral:  When the powerful are humbled it is only the foolish who presume to think that it will last for long.

Text: Thomas James (182, 1848).

Selected parallels: L’Estrange 1/150. Chambry 269. Perry 82. TMI J952.2.

.