The Fox and the Lion

Aesop

The fox was terrified of the lion.

A Fox who had never seen a Lion one day met one, and was so terrified at the sight of him that he was ready to die with fear.  After a time he met him again, and was still rather frightened, but not nearly so much as he had been when he met him first.

The fox was no longer afraid of the lion

But when he saw him for the third time he was so far from being afraid that he went up to him and began to talk to him as if he had known him all his life.

Familiarity breeds contempt.

From Aesop’s Fables: a new translation by V.S. Vernon Jones, with an introduction by G.K. Chesterton and illustrations by Arthur Rackham. 1912 edition. This work is in the public domain.