Lion in Love

It happened in the days of old that a lion fell in love with a woodsman's daughter and had the folly to ask her of her father in marriage. The woodsman was not much pleased with the offer and declined the honor of so dangerous an alliance.

Upon the lion threatening him with his royal displeasure, the poor man, seeing that so formidable a creature was not to be denied, hit at length upon this expedient: "I feel greatly flattered," said he, "with your proposal. But, noble sir, what great teeth you have got! And what great claws you have got! Where is the damsel that would not be frightened at such weapons as these? You must have your teeth drawn and your claws pared before you can be a suitable bridegroom for my daughter."

The lion straightway submitted, for what will not a body do for love, and then called upon the father to accept him as a son-in-law. But the woodsman, no longer afraid of the tamed and disarmed bully, seized a stout cudgel and drove the unreasonable suitor from his door.