Reading Notes: Week 2 Anthology

Reading Notes: Fables

[The Lion's Share by Heighway]

The Lion's Share

The Lion's Share was an interesting read due to, in my opinion, the setup of the story. The lion and three others go on a hunt where they successful kill a stag for food. One would think that since there were four of them, the rewards should be split four ways. It seems that is what happening at first, with the lion telling the others to cut the stag into fours. However, once it comes time for dividing up the stag, the lion announces that he will be taking all portions for four different reasons: being the king of beasts, being the arbiter, participating in the chase, and his intimidation factor. The fox responds by saying that the Lion shares the labors, but not the rewards. The character of the lion in this story is one that is selfish and entitled. He gladly will accept help when it comes to difficult tasks (such as the hunt), but uses his power and reputation to secure the rewards all for himself.

Androcles and the Lion

This story is about a slave that escaped and came across a wounded lion in the forest. After seeing the lion was not a threat to him, he decided to approach the lion and then found the thorn in his paw. The slave did a selfless act of freeing the lion from the thorn in an attempt to alleviate his pain. The lion was sure to be grateful and took him to his cave where he would bring him meat. However, they were both captured and sentenced to fight in an arena for entertainment. The lion was starved for days, however in the arena he did not attack the slave. Instead, their friendship was on display to the public which resulted in the emperor freeing both the slave and the lion. The relationship between the man and lion was one of gratitude and respect, which the emperor surely saw. Their interaction indicated that they were of noble souls which was the reason for their release.

Bibliography:

Jacobs, Joseph. The Fables of Aesop. https://sites.google.com/view/mythfolkloreanthology/fables

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