FABLKS. 



THE LION AND THE FOUR BULLS. 



FOUR Bulls, who had entered into a very strict 

 friendship, kept always near one another, and fed 

 together. The Lion often saw them, and as often 

 had a mind to make one of them his prey; but 

 though he could easily have subdued any of them 

 singly, yet he was afraid to attack the whole alli- 

 ance, knowing they would have been too powerful 

 for him, and therefore was obliged to keep himself 

 at a distance. At last, perceiving that no attempt 

 was to be made upon them as long as their com- 

 bination lasted, he artfully contrived, by the whis- 

 pers and hints of his emissaries, to foment jealousies, 

 and raise divisions among them. This stratagem 

 succeeded so well, that the Bulls grew cold and 

 reserved to one another, which soon after ripened 

 into a downright hatred and aversion, and at last 



VOL. iv. x 



