Indian Fairy Tales · Chapter
The Ass in the Lion’s Skin explained
A hawker dresses his ass in a lion's skin to let it graze freely in fields, but when villagers discover the trick after the ass brays, they beat it to death.
What happens
A hawker dresses his ass in a lion's skin to let it graze freely in fields, but when villagers discover the trick after the ass brays, they beat it to death. The future Buddha observes and comments on the folly of pretending to be what one is not.
Themes in this chapter
Cunning and Wisdom
The ass's disguise is a cunning trick that fails when its true nature is revealed, while the future Buddha's wisdom sees through the pretense.
Greed and Its Consequences
The ass's desire to eat freely leads to its ruin when it cannot maintain the deception.
Characters to notice
Key passages
“This is not a lion’s roaring, Nor a tiger’s, nor a panther’s; Dressed in a lion’s skin, ’Tis a wretched ass that roars!”
The sound is not that of a lion, tiger, or panther; it is merely a pitiful donkey disguised in a lion's hide.
The future Buddha reveals the ass's true identity through its bray.
“Long might the ass, Clad in a lion’s skin, Have fed on the barley green. But he brayed! And that moment he came to ruin.”
The donkey could have continued eating the barley indefinitely while wearing the lion's skin, but its braying led to its immediate destruction.
The hawker laments the ass's downfall caused by its own voice.