The Gnat And The Lion
Aesop Fable: The Gnat And The Lion
A gnat came and said to a Lion, "I do not in the least fear
you, nor are you stronger than I am. For in what does your
strength consist? You can scratch with your claws and bite
with your teeth an a woman in her quarrels. I repeat that
I am altogether more powerful than you; and if you doubt
it, let us fight and see who will conquer."
The Gnat, having
sounded his horn, fastened himself upon the Lion and stung
him on the nostrils and the parts of the face devoid of
hair. While trying to crush him, the Lion tore himself with
his claws, until he punished himself severely. The Gnat thus
prevailed over the Lion, and, buzzing about in a song of
triumph, flew away. But shortly afterwards he became entangled
in the meshes of a cobweb and was eaten by a
spider.
He greatly lamented his fate, saying, "Woe is me!
that I, who can wage war successfully with the hugest
beasts, should perish myself from this spider, the most inconsiderable
of insects!"
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