Perry 257: Fox and Lioness

Today's fable is Perry 257, the story of the fox and the lioness debating the number of offspring they each produce. At del.icio.us, you can see a complete list of the versions of this fable type that I have collected. Sometimes you'll also see this as a debate between a sow and a lioness, since the sow is also famous for giving birth to many piglets at once. I like the version with the fox best, since it's always fun to see the fox being taken down a peg or two.

Here is the version from the Jacobs & Doering Latin reader. This version is brief and to the point, which befits a fable whose moral is "quality, not quantity," after all!

Vulpes leaenam exprobrabat, quod non nisi unum catulum pareret. Huic dicitur respondisse, unum, sed leonem. Haec fabula, non copiam, sed bonitatem rerum aestimandam esse, docet.

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

Vulpes
leaenam exprobrabat,
quod
non nisi unum catulum pareret.
Huic dicitur respondisse,
unum,
sed leonem.
Haec fabula,
non copiam,
sed bonitatem rerum
aestimandam esse,
docet.

The image is from Garrett's Aesop; I like how you can see the lion cub in this one:

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