

The King's Son and the Painted Lion.A King who had one only son, fond of martial exercises, had a dream inwhich he was warned that his son would be killed by a lion. Afraid lestthe dream should prove true, he built for his son a pleasant palace, andadorned its walls for his amusement with all kinds of animals of thesize of life, among which was the picture of a lion. When the youngPrince saw this, his grief at being thus confined burst out afresh, andstanding near the lion, he thus spoke: "O you most detestable ofanimals! through a lying dream of my father's, which he saw in hissleep, I am shut up on your account in this palace as if I had been agirl. What shall I now do to you?" With these words he stretched out hishands toward a thorn-tree, meaning to cut a stick from its branches thathe might beat the lion, when one of its sharp prickles pierced hisfinger, and caused great pain and inflammation, so that the young Princefell down in a fainting fit. A violent fever suddenly set in, from whichhe died not many days after. We had better bear our troubles bravely than try to escape them. From Aesop's Fables |