Vain boasters credit may surprise
Till known; who knows them will despise.
A Lion once a-hunting took
An Ass, and hid him in a nook.
To drive the forest made him bray,
That he might seize the passing prey.
Long-ears sets up such horrid cries,
That every creature trembling flies;
The Lion, practis'd in his trade,
Had soon abundant carnage made;
Satiate with spoil, the Ass he calls,
And bids him cease his hideous brawls.
The king he found with slaughter weary,
Surrounded by his noble quarry,
And, puff'd with self-importance, said:
"Sir, to some purpose I have bray'd!"
"No Ass more famously could do,"
The Lion says, "but thee I knew,
Or I might have been frighted too."
Source: Boothby - Phaedrus 1.11.
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