ON A SUMMER DAY, when the great heat induced a general thirst among the beasts, a Lion and a Boar came at the same moment to a small well to drink. They fiercely disputed which of them should drink first, and were soon engaged in the agonies of a mortal combat. When they stopped suddenly to catch their breath for a fiercer renewal of the fight, they saw some Vultures waiting in the distance to feast on the one that should fall first. They at once made up their quarrel, saying, “It is better for us to make friends, than to become the food of Crows or Vultures.”
ある夏の日、ひどい暑さでけものたちがみなのどをかわかせていたとき、ライオンとイノシシが同時に小さな井戸へ水を飲みにやって来た。二頭はどちらが先に飲むかではげしく言い争い、まもなく命がけの死闘を始めた。もっとはげしく戦いを再開しようと、ふいに手を止めて息を整えたとき、二頭は、先にたおれたほうをごちそうにしようと、何羽かのハゲワシが遠くで待ちかまえているのに気づいた。二頭はすぐにけんかをやめて言った。「カラスやハゲワシのえさになるより、仲直りしたほうがいい」