653:
60:
244:, for the sin of disobedience. The moral of the story is to learn from this example to show reverence to God, just as the fox learned from the wolf's punishment. This reading of the fable therefore gained currency in Western Europe too, both via the preachers who used Odo's book as a source of stories for their sermons and through translations of it into French, Spanish and Welsh.
265:
171:
who go hunting together, the first outstanding for strength, the second for speed. The lion divides their take into three, awarding himself the first because he is king of the beasts, the second because they are 'equal' partners, and suggesting that the ass runs away quickly rather than dare to touch
87:
go hunting together with a lion. When it comes to dividing the spoil, the lion says, "I take the first portion because of my title, since I am addressed as king; the second portion you will assign to me, since I'm your partner; then because I am the stronger, the third will follow me; and an accident
291:
they have co-operated in bringing to land. The jackal awards them the head and tail and runs off with the bulk of their catch. As well as being a condemnation of the greed that leads to strife, the tale takes a sceptical view of how the powerful frame the law to suit themselves, concluding with the
260:
tells one such arbitration fable, said there to be of Indian origin. Here a group of foxes are sharing a dead camel. They cannot decide how to divide it among themselves and persuade a passing wolf to make a just division. At first the wolf begins to do this, but on further consideration he decides
228:
When the fox was tested in the same way, he did not even retain a morsel for himself, explaining (as in the Greek version) that he had learned wisdom from the wolf's fate and thanking the lion for giving him the privilege of going second. This allows Rumi to conclude that we are lucky to be living
175:
Another version that first appeared in the Middle Ages is more cynical still. A fox joins the lion and donkey in hunting. When the donkey divides their catch into three equal portions, the angry lion kills the donkey and eats him. The fox then puts everything into one pile, leaving just a tiny bit
38:
and is used here as their generic title. There are two main types of story, which exist in several different versions. Other fables exist in the East that feature division of prey in such a way that the divider gains the greater part - or even the whole. In
English the phrase used in the sense of
224:
In Rumi's telling, the lion had a wolf and a fox as hunting companions. The lion ordered the wolf to divide the catch and when it did so into three parts, tore off the wolf's head, just as the lion tore the donkey to pieces in Aesop's fable. Rumi's speciality, however, is always to offer an
314:, in which the first two beasts simultaneously attack a kid and then fight over their spoil. When they are both too exhausted to move, a fox steals their prey and leaves them to reflect, "How much better it would have been to have shared in a friendly spirit."
229:
now, with the examples of past generations to guide us. Rumi's fox then worships at the feet of the lion, addressing him with the words "O king of the world" and is duly rewarded for this devotion with everything that he had resigned to the divine king.
111:). On one occasion, she recounts, the lion is joined by officers of his court, a wild ox and a wolf, who divide the catch into three and invite their lord to apportion it. Then on another occasion, when the lion is accompanied by a goat and a sheep, the
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176:
for herself, and tells the lion to choose. When the lion asks her how she learned to share things this way, the fox replies, "From the donkey's misfortune." This variation is given a separate number (149) in the
261:
to keep the rest for himself, as he is, after all, more powerful. (In this case, however, the foxes appeal to the lion who decides in their favour and kills the wolf and returns the camel to them.)
252:
There is a close family resemblance between fables where the lion takes all because he can and fables where an arbiter takes advantage of his powerful position, and indeed both are type 51 in the
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225:
explanation of his actors' motives. In this case the lion explains that it is an act of grace for him to do so since the wolf did not recognise superiority when he saw it.
240:. For him too the lion is a symbol of God and his actions are interpreted as an expression of divine justice. Odo explains that the lion punished the wolf, as God did
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138:(a leonine company) was used by one Roman lawyer to describe the kind of unequal business partnership described by Aesop. The early 19th century writer
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they take is divided into four. In both cases the lion begins by claiming portions as a legal right and retains the others with threats. In
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I.6). Each of these the lion retains because he is king, the strongest, the bravest, and will kill the first who touches the fourth part.
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the third. The moral
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expression which now refers to the major share of something. The phrase derives from the plot of a number of
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The number of differing variations circulating by the time of the Middle Ages is witnessed by the fact that
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begins with the reflection that "Partnership with the mighty is never trustworthy". It then relates how a
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Muslim neoplatonists : an introduction to the thought of the
Brethren of Purity (IkhwÄn al-áčąafÄÊŒ)
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also retold the fable in terms of a commercial enterprise in his poem "The Beasts in
Partnership":
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The differences in interpretation between three versions of the fable is discussed in the article
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426:"The Heifer, the Goat and the Lamb in Consort with the Lion", translated by Norman Shapiro, in
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The tale of the jackal and the otters, a 2nd-century BCE Indian sculpture from the
Bharhut stupa
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You have fastened both your hands tight on 'I' and 'we': all this ruin is caused by dualism.
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Melt away your existence, as copper in the elixir, in the being of Him who fosters existence.
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Types of the folktale in the Arab world : a demographically oriented tale-type index
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395:"1.6. Of the lyon and of the cowe / of the goote and of the sheep (Caxton's Aesop)"
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Much the same interpretation was given to the tale by Rumi's
English contemporary,
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will happen to anyone who touches the fourth." This was listed as Fable 339 in the
475:"15. The Wolf, The Fox and The Lion Dividing The Spoils (Laura Gibbs, translator)"
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212:. He began by orienting the reader to interpret the fable in a spiritual sense:
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The Taill of how this forsaid Tod maid his
Confessioun to Freir Wolf Waitskaith
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by Brian MĂžller Jensen, in Eranos: Acta philologica
Suecana Vol. CII (2004),
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181:
310:, however, it has certain points in common with another of Aesop's fables,
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This fable shades into an Indian variant of the story, first told as the
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This alternative fable was given a different reading by the 13th century
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only appeared at the end of the 18th century; the French equivalent,
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A Latin reference to Aesop's fable is found at the start of the
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These in business were join'd, and of course 'twas implied,
538:"Rumi: The Fable of the Lion's Share â Journey to the Sea"
664:
579:. Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press. pp.
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They their stocks should unite, and the profits divide.
47:, is recorded from the start of that century, following
107:. Both appear under the title "The Lion Goes Hunting" (
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The Taill of the
Uponlandis Mous and the Burges Mous
1319:
1255:
1228:
1164:
1067:
702:
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16:Idiom which refers to the major share of something
637:, Cambridge University Press, 1895, pp. 205â207,
414:, ed. Mary Lou Martin, Birmingham AL, pp. 56â58;
301:Their wealth decays and the king's coffers gain.
149:Messrs Lion, Wolf, Tiger, Fox, Leopard & Co;
377:"The Lion, The Cow, The She-Goat and The Sheep"
294:
214:
144:
633:or stories of the Buddha's former births, ed.
680:
147:This firm once existed, I'd have you to know,
8:
1294:The Taill of Schir Chanticleir and the Foxe
558:, New York, 1985; and a limited preview on
687:
673:
665:
554:There is a translation by John C. Jacobs:
428:The Complete Fables of Jean de La Fontaine
1273:The Morall Fabillis of Esope the Phrygian
610:. London : RoutledgeCurzon. p. 93.
330:Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
322:
299:They seek an arbiter: he's leader then;
119:there is a fourfold division between a
297:Just as, when strife arises among men,
258:Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity
96:in his 1484 collection of the Fables.
92:and was later the version followed by
7:
444:Societas Leonina or the lion's share
306:In that the tale deals with outside
254:AarneâThompson classification system
1197:Out of the frying pan into the fire
1087:(also known as The Mice in Council)
899:The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs
739:The Astrologer who Fell into a Well
1136:The miller, his son and the donkey
754:The Bird-catcher and the Blackbird
67:'s edition of Aesop's Fables, 1687
14:
1111:The drowned woman and her husband
1014:The Travellers and the Plane Tree
834:The Fisherman and the Little Fish
163:In the extended Greek telling of
103:included two in her 12th century
651:
283:offers to arbitrate between two
180:and is the one followed by such
914:The Horse that Lost its Liberty
430:, University of Illinois 2010,
63:Illustration of the fable from
924:The Lion, the Bear and the Fox
312:The Lion, the Bear and the Fox
1:
1059:The Young Man and the Swallow
779:The Cock, the Dog and the Fox
759:The Bird in Borrowed Feathers
656:The dictionary definition of
556:The Fables of Odo of Cheriton
412:The Fables of Marie de France
236:, in the Latin work known as
1246:The Grasshopper and the Ants
1131:The Hawk and the Nightingale
1054:The Woodcutter and the Trees
1009:Town Mouse and Country Mouse
974:The Old Woman and the Doctor
889:The Frogs Who Desired a King
604:Netton, Ian Richard (2002).
248:Other related Eastern fables
1187:The labyrinth of Versailles
1126:The Gourd and the Palm-tree
1034:Washing the Ethiopian White
999:The Snake in the Thorn Bush
984:The Satyr and the Traveller
929:The Man with Two Mistresses
714:The Ant and the Grasshopper
571:El-Shamy, Hasan M. (2004).
287:who are quarrelling over a
256:. The 10th-century Arabic
71:The early Latin version of
1504:
1091:The Blind Man and the Lame
959:The North Wind and the Sun
799:The Dog and Its Reflection
744:The Bear and the Travelers
734:The Ass in the Lion's Skin
341:Merriam-Webster Dictionary
18:
1207:The milkmaid and her pail
1156:The Shepherd and the Lion
1151:The Scorpion and the Frog
1080:The Bear and the Gardener
1019:The Trees and the Bramble
1004:The Tortoise and the Hare
979:The Rose and the Amaranth
864:The Fox and the Sick Lion
749:The Belly and the Members
729:The Ass Carrying an Image
1212:Wolf in sheep's clothing
1096:The Boy and the Filberts
1039:The Weasel and Aphrodite
954:The Mouse and the Oyster
909:The Horse and the Donkey
839:The Fowler and the Snake
824:The Farmer and the Viper
819:The Farmer and the Stork
794:The Deer without a Heart
784:The Crow and the Pitcher
36:fables ascribed to Aesop
1478:English-language idioms
1146:The Priest and the Wolf
1101:Chanticleer and the Fox
944:The Moon and her Mother
879:The Fox and the Woodman
829:The Fir and the Bramble
719:The Ass and his Masters
1141:The Monkey and the Cat
1075:An ass eating thistles
1044:The Wolf and the Crane
994:The Snake and the Crab
949:The Mountain in Labour
939:The Miser and his Gold
919:The Lion and the Mouse
874:The Fox and the Weasel
849:The Fox and the Grapes
789:The Crow and the Snake
774:The Cock and the Jewel
764:The Boy Who Cried Wolf
304:
269:
222:
156:
68:
51:version of the fable.
1327:Demetrius of Phalerum
1280:The Cock and the Jasp
1202:Still waters run deep
1106:The Dog in the Manger
1049:The Wolf and the Lamb
969:The Old Man and Death
904:The Honest Woodcutter
894:The Goat and the Vine
869:The Fox and the Stork
814:The Eagle and the Fox
267:
123:, a goat and a lamb (
62:
1468:La Fontaine's Fables
1377:Laurentius Abstemius
1310:La Fontaine's Fables
1116:The Elm and the Vine
964:The Oak and the Reed
859:The Fox and the Mask
854:The Fox and the Lion
844:The Fox and the Crow
809:The Dove and the Ant
804:The Dog and the Wolf
769:The Cat and the Mice
479:www.mythfolklore.net
399:www.mythfolklore.net
381:www.mythfolklore.net
117:La Fontaine's Fables
55:The Phaedrus version
1483:Lions in literature
1407:Jean de La Fontaine
1357:Adémar de Chabannes
1239:Aesop's Film Fables
1121:The Fox and the Cat
934:The Mischievous Dog
884:The Frog and the Ox
724:The Ass and the Pig
542:journeytothesea.com
167:it is a lion and a
159:The Babrius version
134:, where the phrase
21:Lion's Share (band)
1458:Indian fairy tales
1347:Dositheus Magister
522:Choice of Emblemes
270:
192:and in English by
69:
45:le partage du lion
19:For the band, see
1453:Indian literature
1435:
1434:
617:978-0-7007-1466-7
590:978-0-253-34447-2
292:satirical verse:
1495:
1417:Nicolas Trigault
1392:Hieronymus Osius
1382:Roger L'Estrange
1352:Alexander Neckam
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109:De Leone Venante
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1372:Kawanabe KyĆsai
1362:Odo of Cheriton
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459:Aesop in Rhyme
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1367:John Lydgate
1308:
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1237:
1216:
1192:Lion's share
1191:
1177:Panchatantra
1172:Jataka tales
1024:The Two Pots
658:
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630:
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599:
574:
566:
560:Google Books
555:
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541:
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28:lion's share
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1427:Zhou Zuoren
1422:Robert Thom
1412:Ivan Krylov
1320:Translators
1258:adaptations
1231:adaptations
1182:Perry Index
639:archive.org
635:E.B. Cowell
308:arbitration
184:writers as
178:Perry Index
169:wild donkey
90:Perry Index
1442:Categories
1068:Apocryphal
631:The Jataka
448:pp. 97â104
318:References
132:Common Era
41:nearly all
463:pp. 76â77
238:Parabolae
182:Neo-Latin
32:idiomatic
1332:Phaedrus
524:(1586),
511:fable 78
509:(1564),
494:(1564),
73:Phaedrus
1488:Hunting
1342:Avianus
1337:Babrius
1221:(album)
1165:Related
704:Aesop's
432:pp. 8â9
209:Masnavi
206:in his
165:Babrius
1266:Ysopet
1229:Screen
706:Fables
614:
587:
526:p. 154
364:Fabula
285:otters
281:jackal
276:Jataka
125:Fables
121:heifer
105:Ysopet
83:and a
30:is an
1256:Print
696:Aesop
85:sheep
612:ISBN
585:ISBN
289:fish
242:Adam
204:Rumi
188:and
113:deer
81:goat
79:, a
26:The
581:996
366:I.5
77:cow
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