Explore "The Lion and the Hunter" by Jean de La Fontaine on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
A braggart, lover of the chase, / Had lost a dog of valued race, / And thought him in a lion's maw. / He ask'd a shepherd whom he saw, / 'Pray show me, man, the robber's place, / And I'll have justice in the case. ' / ''Tis on this mountain side,' / The shepherd man replied. / 'The tribute of a sheep I pay, / Each month, and where I please I stray. ' / Out leap'd the lion as he spake, / And came that way, with agile feet. / The braggart, prompt his flight to take, / Cried, 'Jove, O grant a safe retreat!'
A danger close at hand / Of courage is the test. / It shows us who will stand -- / Whose legs will run their best.[1]
[1]: Gabrias, or Babrias; and Aesop. See note to preceding fable.