A Gnat came to a Lion, and said:
"Do you think that you have more strength than I? You are mistaken! What
does your strength consist in? Is it that you scratch with your claws,
and gnaw with your teeth? That is the way the women quarrel with their
husbands. I am stronger than you: if you wish let us fight!"
And the Gnat sounded his horn, and began to bite the Lion on his bare
cheeks and his nose. The Lion struck his face with his paws and
scratched it with his claws. He tore his face until the blood came, and
gave up.
The Gnat trumpeted for joy, and flew away. Then he became entangled in a
spider's web, and the spider began to suck him up. The Gnat said:
"I have vanquished the strong beast, the Lion, and now I perish from
this nasty spider."