The Lion, Prometheus, and the Elephant

The lion often complained of Prometheus. True, Prometheus had made him big and handsome, had armed his jaw with teeth and fitted his paws with claws, had made him stronger than all the other animals; "but for all that," he added, "I am afraid of the cock." Prometheus replied, "Why do you accuse me lightly? Have you not all the physical advantages I could shape? It is your spirit alone that fails at this one thing." So the lion bewailed his lot and accused himself of cowardice; and at last he wanted to end his life. He was in this frame of mind when he met the elephant; he greeted him and stopped to chat. Having noticed that the elephant kept moving his ears continually, he asked, "What is the matter with you, and why can your ear not stay still even for a moment?" "You see," replied the elephant, while a gnat happened to be flitting about him, "you see this tiny creature, buzzing; if it gets into the passage of my ear, I am done for." Then the lion said to himself, "Why should I want to die, I who am so powerful and who surpass the elephant in happiness as much as the cock surpasses the gnat in strength?"