212 ^ESOP'S FABLES 



when he says, Plato, Cratyl. 41 1 a, " / must not quake now I 

 have donned the lion's skin" But it seems doubtful whether 

 Socrates would have written himself down an ass, and the 

 expression may really refer to the stage representations of 

 Hercules. The fable is certainly Indian as it occurs among 

 the Jatakas in a form which gives a raison d'etre for the 

 masquerade. The Ass in the Jataka is dressed every morn- 

 ing by his master in the Lion's skin, so as to obtain free 

 pasturage by frightening away the villagers. (Given in 

 Jacobs, Indian Fairy Tales^ number 20.) The story is told 

 of a Hare in South Africa (Bleek, Reineke Fuchs in Africa). 

 Thackeray includes it as before in his Newcomes. 



L.— TWO FELLOWS AND BEAR (Av. viii.) 

 Avian, ed. Ellis, 9. 



LL— TWO POTS (Av. ix.) 



Avian, ed. Ellis, II. Probably Indian. [Panch. iii. 13.) 

 It occurs also in the Apocrypha : " Have no fellowship with 

 one that is mightier and richer than thyself, for how agree 

 the Kettle and Earthen Pot together ? " (Fcclus. xiii. 2). 

 There is a Talmudic proverb : " If a jug fall on a stone, 

 woe to the jug ■> if a stone fall on a jug, woe to the jug." 

 (Midr. Est. ap. Dukes Blumenlese^ No. 530.) 



LIE— FOUR OXEN AND LION (Av. xiv.) 



Avian, ed. Ellis, 18. Also Babrius 44 {Three Bulls). 

 We have ancient pictorial representations of this fable. Cf. 

 Helbig, Untersuchungen 93. 



LIIL— FISHER AND LITTLE FISH (Av. xvi.) 

 Avian, ed. Ellis, 20. Also Babrius 6. Our " bird in 



