The Ass Dressed In The Lion's Skin
:
A Hundred Fables Of La Fontaine
Clad in a lion's shaggy hide,
An ass spread terror far and wide,
And, though himself a coward brute,
Put all the world to scampering rout:
But, by a piece of evil luck,
A portion of an ear outstuck,
Which soon reveal'd the error
Of all the panic terror.
Old Martin did his office quick.
Surprised were all who did not know the trick,
To see that Martin, at his will,
Was driving lions to the mill!
_In France, the men are not a few_
_Of whom this fable proves too true;_
_Whose valour chiefly doth reside_
_In coat they wear and horse they ride._