Prevod
A lion, grown old, lay ill in his cave. All the other animals came to visit their king except the fox. The wolf seized the opportunity to accuse her before the lion, saying that she held the ruler of them all in such contempt that she had not even come to visit him. Just then the fox arrived and overheard the wolf’s last words. The lion roared at her, but she asked for a chance to defend herself. “And which of those gathered here,” she said, “has done as much for you as I have? I have wandered far and wide, seeking a cure for you from a physician, and I have found one.” The lion at once ordered her to tell him the cure. “You must skin a wolf alive,” she said, “and wrap yourself in his hide while it is still warm.” When the wolf lay dead a moment later, the fox laughed and said, “One should move one’s master to goodwill, not to anger.” The fable shows that whoever plots against another turns the trap upon himself.
Izvirnik
Λέων γηράσας ἐνόσει κατακεκλιμένος ἐν ἂντρῳ· παρῆσαν δʼ ἐπισκεψόμενα τὸν βασιλέα πλὴν ἀλώπεκος τἄλλα τῶν ζώων. Ὁ τοίνυν λύκος λαβόμενος εὐκαιρίας, κατηγόρει παρὰ τῷ λέοντι τῆς ἀλώπεκος, ἅτε δὴ παρʼ οὐδὲν τιθεμένης τὸν πάντων αὐτῶν κρατοῦντα, καὶ διὰ ταῦτα μηδʼ εἰς ἐπίσκεψιν ἀφιγμένης. Ἐν τοσούτῳ δὲ παρῆν καὶ ἡ ἀλώπηξ, καὶ τῶν τελευταίων ἠκροάσατο τοῦ λύκου ῥημάτων. Ὁ μὲν οὖν λέων κατʼ αὐτῆς ἐβρυχᾶτο· ἡ δʼ ἀπολογίας καιρὸν αἰτήσασα „καὶ τίς σε“ ἔφη ,,τῶν συνελθόντων τοσοῦτον ὠφέλησεν, ὅσον ἐγὼ, πανταχόσε περινοστήσασα καὶ θεραπείαν ὑπὲρ σοῦ παρʼ ἰατροῦ ζητήσασα καὶ μαθοῦσα ;“ Τοῦ δὲ λέοντος εὐθὺς τὴν θεραπείαν εἰπεῖν κελεύσαντος, ἐκείνη φησίν· „εἰ λύκον ζῶντα ἐκδείρας τὴν αὐτοῦ δορὰν θερμὴν ἀμφιέσῃ.“ Καὶ τοῦ λύκου αὐτίκα νεκροῦ κειμένου, ἡ ἀλώπηξ γελῶσα εἶπεν οὕτως· „οὐ χρὴ τὸν δεσπότην πρὸς δυσμένειαν παρακινεῖν, ἀλλὰ πρὸς εὐμένειαν.“
Ὁ μῦθος δηλοῖ, ὅτι ὁ καθʼ ἑτέρου μηχανώμενος καθʼ ἑαυτοῦ τὴν πάγην περιτρέπει.
