Fox found Dogs tearing apart a lion skin. Fox told the Dogs they would have a problem if the Lion were still in the skin.
It is easy to kick a man that is down.
Aesop For Children
Some Dogs found the skin of a Lion and furiously began to tear it with their teeth. A Fox chanced to see them and laughed scornfully.
“If that Lion had been alive,” he said, “it would have been a very different story. He would have made you feel how much sharper his claws are than your teeth.”
Moral
It is easy and also contemptible to kick a man that is down.
Townsend version
Some dogs, finding the skin of a lion, began to tear it in pieces with their teeth. A Fox, seeing them, said, “If this lion were alive, you would soon find out that his claws were stronger than your teeth.”
Moral
It is easy to kick a man that is down.
Canes et Leonis Pellis
Pellem leonis repererant canes eamque lacerabant dentibus. Quos videns vulpes, sic eos allocuta esse fertur, “Leo iste, si adhuc in vivis esset, experiremini ungues eius fortiores vestris dentibus.”
Perry #406
