THE LION AND THE GNAT
Reading edition
A Gnat came to a Lion and said: “I do not the least fear you, nor are you stronger than I am. You can scratch with your claws, and bite with your teeth—so can a woman in her quarrels. Let us fight, and see who shall conquer.” The Gnat, having sounded his horn, fastened himself upon the Lion, and stung him on the nostrils and 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 afterward 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 beast, should perish myself from this spider, the most inconsiderable of insects!”
Esteem yourself neither highly nor lowly, but walk humbly in the face of the Unknown.