Aesop's Fables: Townsend (1867)
9. The Kingdom of the Lion (Perry 334)
THE BEASTS of the field and forest had a Lion as their king. He was neither
wrathful, cruel, nor tyrannical, but just and gentle as a king could be.
During his reign he made a royal proclamation for a general assembly of
all the birds and beasts, and drew up conditions for a universal league,
in which the Wolf and the Lamb, the Panther and the Kid, the Tiger and
the Stag, the Dog and the Hare, should live together in perfect peace
and amity. The Hare said, 'Oh, how I have longed to see this day, in which
the weak shall take their place with impunity by the side of the strong.'
And after the Hare said this, he ran for his life.
George Fyler Townsend's translation of the fables, first published in 1867, is
in the public domain and can be found at many websites, including Project
Gutenberg.
Illustrations come from: Aesop's Fables, by George Fyler Townsend, with
illustrations by Harrison Weir, 1867, at Google
Books. |