The Ass Dressed in the Lion's Skin

An ass disguises himself in a lion’s shaggy hide and frightens everyone, despite being cowardly by nature. When part of his ear sticks out, the disguise is exposed and the panic ends. Old Martin quickly takes control, astonishing those who do not know the trick by driving apparent lions to the mill. The fable applies to men in France whose supposed bravery depends chiefly on the clothes they wear and the horses they ride.

By Jean de La Fontaine · First published 1668 · Genre: Fable, Didactic Literature, Allegory · 198 words

First lines

Clad in a lion's shaggy hide, / An ass spread terror far and wide, / And, though himself a coward brute, / Put all the world to scampering rout: / But, by a piece of evil luck, / A portion of an ear outstuck, / Which soon reveal'd the error / Of all the panic-terror. / Old Martin did his office quick. / Surprised were all who did not know the trick, / To see that Martin,[1] at his will, / Was driving lions to the mill!

[1]: _Martin_. -- Martin-bâton, again as in Fable V., Book IV.

In France, the men are not a few / Of whom this fable proves too true; / Whose valour chiefly doth reside / In coat they wear and horse they ride.[2]

[2]: Aesop, and Avianus.

• Open reader

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Genres

• Fable — A brief allegorical animal tale that delivers an explicit moral about false appearances and borrowed courage.
• Didactic Literature — Its primary purpose is instruction: the ending applies the ass's exposure to people whose apparent bravery depends on clothing, status, or display.
• Allegory — The ass in a lion's skin represents cowardly or insignificant people who use outward signs of power to deceive others.
• Satire — La Fontaine mockingly criticizes social pretension, especially men whose supposed valor rests on fashionable dress and impressive horses.

Tags

French fable · verse fable · seventeenth-century literature · France · animal allegory · ass · lion skin · disguise · mistaken identity · exposure of deception · cowardice · false bravery

What this Textopian page supports

The Ass Dressed in the Lion's Skin is listed on Textopian as a fable by Jean de La Fontaine, dated 1668 CE.

This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.

• Work type: Fable
• Author: Jean de La Fontaine
• Date: 1668 CE
• Language: English
• Genres: Fable, Didactic Literature, Allegory, Satire, Animal Literature
• Length: 198 words
• Structure: 1 section, 4 paragraphs
• Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)

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• Work identity for The Ass Dressed in the Lion's Skin by Jean de La Fontaine
• Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
• Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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More by Jean de La Fontaine

• To Monseigneur the Dauphin (1668)
• The Grasshopper and the Ant (1668)
• The Raven and the Fox (1668)
• The Frog that Wished to be as Big as the Ox (1668)
• The Two Mules (1668)
• The Wolf and the Dog (1668)
• The Heifer, the Goat, and the Sheep, in Company with the Lion (1668)
• The Wallet (1668)
• All works by Jean de La Fontaine