Click here for a SLIDESHOW of all the Billinghurst images. Just as the fable tells us, even the donkey and the rabbit have their place in the lion's retinue! For some addition images, see Aesop's Books.
M0019 (not in Perry). Source: Abstemius 95. This fable is not in Perry’s catalog; Perry omitted most of Abstemius’s fables. For a story where the donkey is not so well received in the lion’s court, see #232.
The Lion and His Battle Array. The lion, king of the beasts, about to go to war with the birds, arranged his followers in a battle array. When asked by the bear how the sluggishness of the donkey or the timidity of the rabbit could bring victory, when he saw them in the midst of the other soldiers, the lion answered: "The donkey will rouse the soldiers to fight with the blaring noise of his trumpet, while the rabbit will carry out the duties of a courier because of the swiftness of his feet." The fable shows that no one is so contemptible that he cannot benefit us in some way or other.
