The Lion's Share
- 2 minute read
- Ages 7-11
- Aesop's Fables
A lion, a fox and a donkey agreed to hunt together and share whatever they caught.
They hunted all day and did well, and by the evening there was a good pile of meat on the ground and the three of them stood round it.
The donkey divides
The lion turned to the donkey.
"Divide it."
The donkey was pleased to be asked. He worked carefully, and he was scrupulously fair about it: he made three piles of exactly equal size, took great trouble getting them even, and stepped back so the others could choose.
The lion looked at the three piles.
Then he killed the donkey.
The fox divides
He turned to the fox.
"Divide it."
The fox went to work.
She pushed almost everything into one enormous heap, all of it, until the pile was nearly the whole day's hunting. Then she picked out a few small scraps and put them to one side in a little heap of her own.
"Yours," she said, pointing at the mountain. "Mine," pointing at the scraps.
The lion was extremely pleased.
"Excellent," he said. "Who taught you to divide like that?"
The fox looked at the donkey lying on the ground.
"He did," she said.
Moral of the story
You can learn from what happens to other people, or you can wait and learn it yourself. The first way is cheaper.
Questions and answers
- What did the three animals agree to do?
To hunt together and share whatever they caught.
- How did the donkey divide the food?
Into three exactly equal piles, taking great care to be fair.
- Why did the lion kill the donkey?
Because the donkey gave him only a third, and the lion considered himself entitled to far more.
- How did the fox divide it?
She gave almost everything to the lion and kept only a few scraps for herself.
- What did the fox mean by saying the donkey taught her?
That she had learned from watching what happened to him, rather than having to find out the hard way.
Word meanings
- scrupulously
- Very carefully and honestly.
- divide
- To split something into parts.
- scraps
- Small leftover pieces.
- entitled
- Believing you have a right to something.
Questions about The Lion's Share
What is the moral of The Lion's Share?
The moral is that it is far cheaper to learn from someone else's mistake than from your own. The fox watched and adjusted.
What does 'the lion's share' mean today?
It means by far the largest part of something, and the phrase comes directly from this fable.
Is the fox being cowardly?
Most readers say she is being realistic. She had no power to change the lion's behaviour, only her own response to it.
Is the donkey's death described?
No. It is stated in one short sentence with no detail, which is why the fable works for ages seven and above.