Aesop's Fables (Joseph Jacobs)
Jacobs 4. The Lion's Share (Perry 339)
The Lion went once a-hunting along with the Fox, the Jackal, and the
Wolf. They hunted and they hunted till at last they surprised a Stag,
and soon took its life. Then came the question how the spoil should be
divided. "Quarter me this Stag," roared the Lion; so the other
animals skinned it and cut it into four parts. Then the Lion took his
stand in front of the carcass and pronounced judgment: The first quarter
is for me in my capacity as King of Beasts; the second is mine as arbiter;
another share comes to me for my part in the chase; and as for the fourth
quarter, well, as for that, I should like to see which of you will dare
to lay a paw upon it."
"Humph," grumbled the Fox as he walked away with his tail between
his legs; but he spoke in a low growl ."You may share the labours
of the great, but you will not share the spoil."
The
Fables of Aesop, by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by
Richard Heighway (1894). The page images come from Google
Books. The digitized text comes from Project
Gutenberg. You can purchase this inexpensive Dover edition, The
Fables of Aesop by Joseph Jacobs from amazon.com.
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