Perry 140: The Lion in Love

Today's fable is Perry #140, the story of the lion who fell in love with a woman and who foolishly agreed to be de-fanged and de-clawed in order to marry her. As you can guess, things do not turn out well for the lion! At the Aesopus wiki, you can see a complete list of the versions of this fable that I have collected. This is a fable from the Greek tradition, not well attested in the Latin tradition. Luckily, however, I was able to find this simple prose version in de Furia's Latin Aesop:

Leo, Agricolae cuiusdam filiae amore correptus, eam uxorem ducere cupiebat. Patrem itaque, ut illam sibi concedere vellet, enixe rogavit. Is vero filiam suam immani beluae tradere omnino recusabat, quapropter Leo ferociter minitabatur. Pater, metu perculsus, cum ipsum a se abigere non posset, callido consilio usus, ita Leonem alloquitur: Filiam tibi meam tradere non possum, Leo, nisi prius tibi dentes et ungues evellas, quos puella summopere exhorret. Ita ni gesseris, eam tibi nequaquam concedam. Ille, amore deperiens, iussa alacriter ac prompte exsequitur, posteaque reversus, puellam poscit. Sed Agricola, eum despiciens, fustibus percussum a se longe reiecit. Fabula demonstrat eos, qui se hostibus credunt, ab iisdem facile profligari.

Here it is written out in segmented style to make it easier to follow, while respecting the Latin word order:

Leo,
Agricolae cuiusdam
filiae amore correptus,
eam uxorem ducere cupiebat.
Patrem itaque,
ut illam sibi concedere vellet,
enixe rogavit.
Is vero
filiam suam
immani beluae tradere
omnino recusabat,
quapropter Leo ferociter minitabatur.
Pater,
metu perculsus,
cum ipsum a se abigere non posset,
callido consilio usus,
ita Leonem alloquitur:
Filiam tibi meam
tradere non possum, Leo,
nisi prius
tibi dentes et ungues evellas,
quos puella summopere exhorret.
Ita ni gesseris,
eam tibi nequaquam concedam.
Ille,
amore deperiens,
iussa alacriter ac prompte exsequitur,
posteaque reversus,
puellam poscit.
Sed Agricola,
eum despiciens,
fustibus percussum
a se longe reiecit.
Fabula demonstrat
eos,
qui se hostibus credunt,
ab iisdem facile profligari.

This version of the story is notable for including the detail that the lion first tried to obtain what he wanted by making threats! This is not a feature of the plot that you will find in all versions of the story.

For an image of the story, here is an illustration from Walter Crane's Aesop - and it is a perfect example of why Crane is one of my very favorite book illustrators! Click on the image to see a larger version - what a fabulous illustration! I've also put a jumbo-sized version to make the details more clear. For example, you can see the clippers the father is using, and the claws which have already fallen to the ground after being clipped, while the daughter piously proceeds to spin, and Cupid looks on as well!

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