Character Index | Proverb Index

The Lion and The Statue

A Man and a Lion were discussing the relative strength of men and lions. The Man contended he and his fellows were stronger than lions by reason of their greater intelligence.

"Come now with me and I will prove that I am right."

He took the Lion into the public gardens and showed him a statue of Hercules overcoming a Lion. "That is all very well," said the Lion, "but proves nothing, for it was a man who made the statue. If a Lion had made it, the Man would be under a Lion's paw."

Townsend version (The Man and The Lion)

A man and a Lion traveled together through the forest. They soon began to boast of their respective superiority to each other in strength and prowess. As they were disputing, they passed a statue carved in stone, which represented "a Lion strangled by a Man." The traveler pointed to it and said: "See there! How strong we are, and how we prevail over even the king of beasts." The Lion replied: "This statue was made by one of you men. If we Lions knew how to erect statues, you would see the Man placed under the paw of the Lion."

Moral

One story is good, till another is told.

Character Index | Proverb Index

Comments? Please use the contact page form.
Copyright © 2002 Tom Simondi, All Rights Reserved