4.5 "The Lion, the Chamois, and the Fox"

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A Lion was chasing a Chamois along a valley.  He had all but caught it and with longing eyes was anticipating a satisfying meal.  It seemed as if it were utterly impossible for the victim to escape; for a deep ravine appeared to bar the way for both the hunter and the hunted.

But the nimble Chamois, gathering together all its strength, shot like an arrow from a bow across the chasm, and stood still on the rocky cliff on the other side.

Our Lion pulled up short. But at that moment, a friend of his happened to be near at hand. That friend was the Fox.

"What!" said he, "with your strength and power, is it possible that you will yield to a feeble Chamois?  You have only to will and you will be able to work wonders.  Though the abyss be deep, yet if you only believe in yourself, I am certain you will clear it.  Surely you can trust in my disinterested friendship.  I would not expose your life to danger if I were not so well aware of your strength and cunning."

The Lion's blood waxed hot, and began to boil in his veins.  He flung himself with all his might into space.  But he could not clear the chasm; so he tumbled headlong and was killed by the fall.

Then, what did his dear friend do?  He cautiously made his way down to the bottom of the ravine, and there, out in the open space and free air, seeing that the Lion wanted neither flatter nor obedience now, he set to work to pay the last sad rites to his dead friend, and in a month, picked his bones clean.

*Chamois - an agile goat-antelope