A Bear bragged about how kind he was; he would not touch a man’s dead body. A Fox told him it would be better if he ate the dead instead of the living!
One is known by deeds, not by words.
A Bear was bragging about how kind he was saying he would not even touch a man’s dead body. A Fox, on hearing this, said with a smile: “It would be better if you would eat the dead instead of the living!”
Townsend version
A Bear boasted very much of his philanthropy, saying that of all animals he was the most tender in his regard for man, for he had such respect for him that he would not even touch his dead body. A Fox hearing these words said with a smile to the Bear, “Oh! that you would eat the dead and not the living.”
JBR Collection
The Bear is said to be unwilling to touch the dead body of a man; and one of the animals was once heard making a virtue of this peculiarity. “Such is my regard for mankind,” said he, “that nothing on earth would induce me to injure a human corpse.” “Your kindness would impress me much more,” said a Fox who was listening to this speech, “if I could believe that you paid the same respect to the living that you profess to do to the dead.”
Ursa et Vulpes
Ursa olim se magnifice iactabat quod prae ceteris animalibus amica hominis esset; eam enim ferunt humanis cadaveribus vesci non solere. Risit vulpes, his auditis, atque ad eam dixit, “O utinam mortuos, non vivos devorares!”
Perry #288