Читать книгу Further Fables for Our Time - James Thurber - Страница 9

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The lion had just explained to the cow, the goat, and the sheep that the stag they had killed belonged to him, when three little foxes appeared on the scene.

"I will take a third of the stag as a penalty," said one, "for you have no hunter's license."

"I will take a third of the stag for your widow," said another, "for that is the law."

"I have no widow," said the lion.

"Let us not split hairs," said the third fox, and he took his share of the stag as a withholding tax. "Against a year of famine," he explained.

"But I am king of beasts," roared the lion.

"Ah, then you will not need the antlers, for you have a crown," said the foxes, and they took the antlers, too.

MORAL: It is not as easy to get the lion's share nowadays as it used to be.