<< Home Page | Oxford (Gibbs) Index

Aesop's Fables, translated by Laura Gibbs (2002)

59. THE TWO BULLS AND THE LION
Perry 372 (Syntipas 13)

A lion was attacking two bulls, hoping to make a meal of them. The bulls, however, both opposed the lion with their horns. Once they had taken their stand, the bulls did not allow the lion to come between them. When the lion saw that he was powerless against the two bulls together, he slyly spoke to one of them and said, 'If you hand your partner over to me, I will keep you safe from harm.' In this way, he was able to seize both of the bulls.
This fable shows that the same is true of cities and people: when they are in agreement with one another, they do not allow their enemies to defeat them, but if they refuse to cooperate, it is an easy matter for their enemies to destroy them.

Source: Aesop's Fables. A new translation by Laura Gibbs. Oxford University Press (World's Classics): Oxford, 2002.
NOTE: New cover, with new ISBN, published in 2008; contents of book unchanged.