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Aesop's Fables, translated by Laura Gibbs (2002)

459. THE DEER AND THE LION
Perry 76 (Chambry 104 *)

A deer was running away from some hunters and found herself at a cave which was the home of a lion. The deer went inside, thinking that she could hide there, but the lion attacked her. As she was being mauled to death by the lion, the deer said to herself, 'What a fool I was! By running away from the men, I handed myself over to this wild beast!'
The same is true of human beings: fearing a lesser danger, they throw themselves into even worse disaster.


Source: Aesop's Fables. A new translation by Laura Gibbs. Oxford University Press (World's Classics): Oxford, 2002.
NOTE: New cover, with new ISBN, published in 2008; contents of book unchanged.