蚊子和狮子 伊索着 江铭辉翻译
图：当蚊子与狮子战斗时，蚊子不知远处正有一个蜘蛛网等着它。
一只蚊子飞到狮子前面，对狮子说:「至少我并不怕你，你也不比我强。你知道什么是你具有的实力吗？你可用你的爪子抓，用你的牙齿咬，但这些可能是女人在吵架时用的。我再说一遍，总之我比你强。如果你怀疑的话，让我们战斗看谁战胜。
这只蚊子已经发起嗡嗡的号角，贴近狮子的身体，叮着狮子的鼻孔和脸部其他没毛的地方。狮子尝试用牠的爪子撕裂蚊子、重击它，直到自己受到严重的折磨，精疲力尽。蚊子终于战胜了狮子，在四周吹起嗡嗡的胜利歌曲，飞走了。但是离开不久之后，它被蜘蛛网缠住了，然后被一只蜘蛛吃了，它十分感叹自己的命运，说：「灾祸是我造成的！我，既然可以发动战争战胜巨大的野兽，但却被这只微不足道的昆虫（蜘蛛）所毁灭。」
译者评论：知己知彼百战不怠，得意忘形，疏于防范，常招来横祸。文中这只蜘蛛因知道狮子的弱点、自己的长处，所以狮子虽然号称百兽之王，仍然不是它的对手。反过来说；当它战胜百兽之王时，以为自己了不起，过于自负，忘记眼前的灾祸，陷落死亡的境界。中国有一句话：螳螂捕蝉，黄雀在后，只顧眼前的利益，忘记潜在的危机，就是这个道理。
The gnat and the lion
A gnat came and said to a lion, "1 do not the least fear you, nor are you stronger than I am. For in what does your strength consist? You can scratch with your claws, and bite with your teeth , so can a woman in her quarrel. I repeat that I am altogether more powerful than you; and if you doubt it, let us fight and see who will conquer." The gnat, having sounded his horn, fastened itself upon the Lion, and stung him on the nostrils and the parts of the face devoid of hair. The lion, trying to crush him, tore himself with his claws, until he punished himself severely. The gnat thus prevailed over the lion, and, buzzing about in a song of triumph, flew away. But shortly afterwards he became entangled in the meshes of a cobweb, and was eaten by a spider. He greatly lamented his fate, saying, "Woe is me! that I, who can wage war successfully with the hugest beasts, should perish myself from this spider, the most inconsiderable of insects!"