The Serpent and the Lizard
Phaedrus
Retold* by Rohini Chowdhury
A Serpent happened to catch a Lizard by the tail and began to swallow it. But the quick-thinking Lizard snatched up a twig that lay beside her on the ground and held it transversely in her mouth. The twig stuck in the open jaws of the Serpent, and the Serpent, frustrated, let the Lizard go unharmed.
When strength fails, we must employ craftiness.
*Based on the 1887 translation of Phaedrus’ fables by Henry Thomas Riley: The FABLES of PHÆDRUS. Literally Translated into English Prose with Notes, by HENRY THOMAS RILEY, B.A. Late Scholar Of Clare Hall, Cambridge. This work is in the public domain.
