The Gnat and the Lion

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!”