The Ass, the Cock, and the Lion (Aesop's Fables)
The Ass, the Lion, and the Cock (Alfred Caldecott's Version)
An Ass and a Cock were in a shed. A hungry Lion caught sight of the Ass, and was on the point of entering the shed to devour him. But he took fright at the sound of the Cock crowing (for people say that Lions are afraid at the voice of a Cock), and turned away and ran. The Ass, roused to a lofty contempt of him for being afraid of a Cock, went out to pursue him; but when they were some distance away the Lion ate him up.
(From the book Some of Æsop's Fables with Modern Instances Shewn in Designs by Randolph Caldecott, from New Translations by Alfred Caldecott, M.A., with the Engravings by J. D. Cooper — Public Domain)
The Ass, the Cock, and the Lion (George Fyler Townsend's Version)
An Ass and a Cock were in a straw-yard together when a Lion, desperate from hunger, approached the spot. He was about to spring upon the Ass, when the Cock (to the sound of whose voice the Lion, it is said, has a singular aversion) crowed loudly, and the Lion fled away as fast as he could. The Ass, observing his trepidation at the mere crowing of a Cock summoned courage to attack him, and galloped after him for that purpose. He had run no long distance, when the Lion, turning about, seized him and tore him to pieces.
False confidence often leads into danger.
(From the book Three Hundred Æsop’s Fables Literally Translated from the Greek by the Rev. George Fyler Townsend, M.A. — Public Domain)
The Ass, the Cock, and the Lion (V. S. Vernon Jones's Version)
An Ass and a Cock were in a cattle-pen together. Presently a Lion, who had been starving for days, came along and was just about to fall upon the Ass and make a meal of him when the Cock, rising to his full height and flapping his wings vigorously, uttered a tremendous crow. Now, if there is one thing that frightens a Lion, it is the crowing of a Cock: and this one had no sooner heard the noise than he fled. The Ass was mightily elated at this, and thought that, if the Lion couldn't face a Cock, he would be still less likely to stand up to an Ass: so he ran out and pursued him. But when the two had got well out of sight and hearing of the Cock, the Lion suddenly turned upon the Ass and ate him up.
False confidence often leads to disaster.
(From the book Aesop's Fables: A New Translation by V. S. Vernon Jones, with an introduction by G. K. Chesterton and illustrations by Arthur Rackham — Public Domain)