The Lion in Love
by Aesop

A Lion demanded the daughter of a woodcutter in marriage.

The father was unwilling to grant. But he was afraid to refuse lions request The father hit on this expedient to rid himself of his importunities.

He expressed his willingness to accept the lion as the suitor of his daughter on one condition: the lion should allow him to extract his teeth, and cut off his claws, as his daughter was fearfully afraid of both.

The lion cheerfully assented to the proposal.

But when the toothless, clawless lion returned to repeat his request, the woodman, no longer afraid, set on lion with his club, and drove the lion away into the forest.

Even the wildest can be tamed by love.

Friend or Foe
by Aesop

A fox slipped in climbing a fence. 

To save himself from falling he clutched at a brier-bush. The thorns made his paws bleed, and in his pain he cried out: "Oh dear! I turned to you for help and you have made me worse off than I was before."

"Yes, my friend!" said the brier. "You made a bad mistake when you tried to lay hold of me. I lay hold of everyone myself."

The incident illustrates the folly of those who run for aid to people, whose nature it is to hurt rather than to help.

Actions speak louder than words
by Aesop

A fox was being chased by huntsmen.
It begged a woodcutter, whom he saw, to hide him.
The man told fox to go into his hut.

Soon afterwards the huntsmen arrived and asked if he had seen a fox pass that way.
The woodcutter answered "No"
But as he spoke he jerked a thumb towards the place, where the fox was hidden.
However the huntsmen believed his statement.
They didn't take a hint. 

When the fox saw they had gone, it came out and made off without speaking.
The woodsman reproached him, for not even saying a word of acknowledgement for his deliverance.

"I would have thanked you," the fox called back, "if your actions and your character agreed with your words."

There are those who make public profession of virtue but behave like rogues.

The Fox and the Mask
by Aesop

A Fox entered the house of an actor and rummaged through all his properties.
Among other things he found a mask, an admirable imitation of a human head.

He placed his paws on it and said,
"What a beautiful head! Yet it is of no value, as it entirely lacks brains."

Some men of impressive physical appearance are deficient in intellect.