The Lion set up a kingdom where he proclaimed that all animals should live together in peace. The Hare observed he wanted that but ran for his life instead.
Nature will out.
The Lion, as king of the beasts, set up a kingdom where he proclaimed that all animals, friends and enemies alike, should live together in perfect peace and harmony. The Hare said, “I’ve longed for this day where the weak take their place at the side of the strong without fear.” The Hare then immediately began running for his life.
Townsend version
The beasts of the field and forest had a Lion as their king. He was neither wrathful, cruel, nor tyrannical, but just and gentle as a king could be. During his reign he made a royal proclamation for a general assembly of all the birds and beasts, and drew up conditions for a universal league, in which the Wolf and the Lamb, the Panther and the Kid, the Tiger and the Stag, the Dog and the Hare, should live together in perfect peace and amity. The Hare said, “Oh, how I have longed to see this day, in which the weak shall take their place with impunity by the side of the strong.” And after the Hare said this, he ran for his life.
Babrius Translation (The Lion Ruling Justly)
A lion ruled: no brawling lion he,
Nor fierce, nor one who used brute force with glee;
But mild and just, as any child of man.
’Twas in his reign, or so the story ran,
The wild beasts held a congress, with this aim,
Each to do justice, and receive the same.
And when each brute accounted, as by law,
Wolves to the lambs, the pard to the chamois,
Tiger to stag, and peace pervaded all,
A cow’ring hare said, “Ever did I call
“Upon the gods, to grant this day ere long,
“Which makes the weak a terror to the strong.”
Lepus et Leonis Imperium
Leo quidam regnabat, non iracundus, neque crudelis, nec qui semper vires amaret, sed mansuetus ac iustus, velut hominum aliquis. Sub eius igitur imperio, narrant silvestrium habitum fuisse concilium animantium, quo vicissim darent poenas ferae cunctae vel acciperent invicem. Cum autem piacula luerent lupus agno, rupicaprae pardus, cervo tigris, et pax esset ubique, pavidus sic est locutus lepus, “Ast mihi hicce dies semper erat in votis, qui violentis quoque animalibus metuenda faciet quae sunt invalida.”
Perry #334