Hukumusume fairy tale collection > Foreign language (English) > Aesop’s Fables

Illustrator　myi　　　Blog　sorairoiro

The Mosquito and The Lion

(Aesop’s Fables)

Translation　ちいさな翻訳屋さん

Japanese ・ English ・Japanese & English

　A mosquito approached a lion, and said,

“I'm not afraid of you.

　You bluff that you're the king of the animals, but you're not stronger than me.

　If you insist you are stronger, why don't  you prove it yourself?

　Can you scratch or bite me?

　Well, I don't think you can, though.

　Because I'm stronger than you.

　Oh, can't you believe what I'm saying?

　If you want, I can challenge you to a one-on-one fight.”

　Then the mosquito started to attack the lion right away.

　The mosquito bit the area around the lion's nostrils

　where there was no hair.

　Because the area became so itchy, the lion could not help but scratch his nose with his nails, and he was covered with lots of blood.

“I surrender! I surrender!”

　The lion said, and gave up fighting against the mosquito.

　After the mosquito beat the lion,

　he made a triumphant whirring noise

　with his feathers,

　and flew away

　with singing a triumphal song.

　However, the mosquito got trapped in a spider's web, and became the prey of the spider.

　When the mosquito realized that he was about to be eaten by the spider, he said whiningly,

“I'm the one that is stronger than lions,

　but, none the less, I'm dying for such a miserly spider.

　What a pity thing!”


　This is a story for those who win against the strong, but lose against the weak because of their little carelessness.

The end

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