The Fox and the Lion [1] [2] is one of Aesop's Fables and represents a comedy of manners. It is number 10 in the Perry Index. [1]
The Fox and the Lion [1] [2] is one of Aesop's Fables and represents a comedy of manners. It is number 10 in the Perry Index. [1]
The fable was briefly told in Classical Greek sources: 'A fox had never seen a lion before, so when she happened to meet the lion for the first time she all but died of fright. The second time she saw him, she was still afraid, but not as much as before. The third time, the fox was bold enough to go right up to the lion and speak to him.'
Since the story was not related in Latin until very late, it was not included in early European collections of Aesop's fables. Neo-Latin poems based on it were written by Hieronymus Osius and Gabriele Faerno in the 16th century, while in England it was included in Geoffrey Whitney's Choice of Emblemes (1586) and the collections of Francis Barlow and Roger L'Estrange in the late 17th century. Most of these followed the fable's original Greek source in giving it the moral that acquaintance overcomes fear. When it appeared in emblem books, however, it was as an illustration of how difficult things become easy with practice, but after its appearance in Samuel Croxall's The Fables of Aesop in 1722, the story was given a social interpretation. In his long commentary, Croxall remarks that the lesson to be learned from it is of ‘the two extremes in which we may fail, as to a proper behaviour towards our superiors’, namely bashfulness and ‘overbearing impudence’. [2] Although the proverb 'Familiarity breeds contempt' hardly fits the story as it stands, Jeffreys Taylor made it do so in a poem for children from his Aesop in Rhyme (1820). [3] In this the fox criticizes the lion's cold behaviour and is thrown by him into the river to teach him better manners.
The tale with its three episodes does not present illustrators with many possibilities other than showing the two animals looking at each other and showing various emotional states. The possibilities of the Mediaeval convention of showing all the episodes in a composite design is made use of in the late 15th century Greek manuscript known as the Medici Aesop. [4] Thereafter one had to wait until the convention was revived towards the end of the 19th century. In 2011 the fable was set for narrator, horn and piano by American composer Anthony Plog.
Another fable with the same moral but a different outcome concerns the camel. Numbered 195 in the Perry Index, [5] it relates how people were terrified at their first sight of the camel. Once they understood its placid nature, however, they bridled it and allowed even their children to ride on it. This too had only ancient Greek sources and was rarely recorded in England except by L'Estrange and Townsend. Ivan Krylov wrote a variant of the fable with a donkey, who was initially a small animal, but asked Jupiter to make him a big beast, and scared everyone until they learned more about him, and now he is used for menial work. [6]
Aesop's Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and storyteller who lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 BCE. Of diverse origins, the stories associated with his name have descended to modern times through a number of sources and continue to be reinterpreted in different verbal registers and in popular as well as artistic media.
The Lion, the Bear and the Fox is one of Aesop's Fables that is numbered 147 in the Perry Index. There are similar story types of both eastern and western origin in which two disputants lose the object of their dispute to a third.
The Fox and the Sick Lion is one of Aesop's Fables, well known from Classical times and numbered 142 in the Perry Index. There is also an Indian analogue. Interpretations of the story's meaning have differed widely in the course of two and a half millennia.
Speaking of The Snake and the Crab in Ancient Greece was the equivalent of the modern idiom, 'Pot calling the kettle black'. A fable attributed to Aesop was eventually created about the two creatures and later still yet another fable concerning a crab and its offspring was developed to make the same point.
The Crow or Raven and the Snake or Serpent is one of Aesop's Fables and numbered 128 in the Perry Index. Alternative Greek versions exist and two of these were adopted during the European Renaissance. The fable is not to be confused with the story of this title in the Panchatantra, which is completely different.
The Fox and the Woodman is a cautionary story against hypocrisy included among Aesop's Fables and is numbered 22 in the Perry Index. Although the same basic plot recurs, different versions have included a variety of participants.
The Assand his Masters is a fable that has also gone by the alternative titles The ass and the gardener and Jupiter and the ass. Included among Aesop's Fables, it is numbered 179 in the Perry Index.
Developed by authors during Renaissance times, the story of an ass eating thistles was a late addition to collections of Aesop's Fables. Beginning as a condemnation of miserly behaviour, it eventually was taken to demonstrate how preferences differ.
The Dove and the Ant is a story about the reward of compassionate behaviour. Included among Aesop's Fables, it is numbered 235 in the Perry Index.
The Frog and the Mouse is one of Aesop's Fables and exists in several versions. It is numbered 384 in the Perry Index. There are also Eastern versions of uncertain origin which are classified as Aarne-Thompson type 278, concerning unnatural relationships. The stories make the point that the treacherous are destroyed by their own actions.
Hercules and the Wagoner or Hercules and the Carter is a fable credited to Aesop. It is associated with the proverb "God helps those who help themselves", variations on which are found in other ancient Greek authors.
The Ape and the Fox is a fable credited to Aesop and is numbered 81 in the Perry Index. However, the story goes back before Aesop’s time and an alternative variant may even be of Asian origin.
The Farmer and his Sons is a story of Greek origin that is included among Aesop's Fables and is listed as 42 in the Perry Index. It illustrates both the value of hard work and the need to temper parental advice with practicality.
The Bear and the Bees is a fable of North Italian origin that became popular in other countries between the 16th - 19th centuries. There it has often been ascribed to Aesop's fables, although there is no evidence for this and it does not appear in the Perry Index. Various versions have been given different interpretations over time and artistic representations have been common.
The Old Woman and the Wine Jar is one of Aesop's Fables and is numbered 493 in the Perry Index. It has been applied to situations where an influence for good is lasting, such as the effect of education.
The Fisherman and his Flute appears among Aesop’s Fables and is numbered 11 in the Perry Index. Wide variations on the theme have existed over the centuries.
The Eagle and the Fox is a fable of friendship betrayed and revenged. Counted as one of Aesop’s Fables, it is numbered 1 in the Perry Index. The central situation concerns an eagle that seizes a fox’s cubs and bears them off to feed its young. There are then alternative endings to the story, in one of which the fox exacts restitution while in the other it gains retribution for its injury.
The lion grown old is counted among Aesop’s Fables and is numbered 481 in the Perry Index. It is used in illustration of the insults given those who have fallen from power and has a similar moral to the fable of The dogs and the lion's skin. Parallel proverbs of similar meaning were later associated with it.
The Dog and the Sheep is one of Aesop’s Fables and is numbered 478 in the Perry Index. Originally its subject was the consequence of bearing false witness. However, longer treatments of the story during the Middle Ages change the focus to deal with perversions of justice by the powerful at the expense of the poor. It has sometimes been alternatively titled The Wolf, the Dog and the Sheep in order to distinguish it from the fable of the dispute between the sheep and the dog that guards them.
The Lion, the Boar and the Vultures is sometimes counted among Aesop’s Fables and warns against quarrels of which others will take advantage. It is numbered 338 in the Perry Index.
