5. de asino pelle leonis induto. (Perry 358)
Metiri se quemque decet propriisque iuvari Laudibus, alterius nec bona ferre sibi, Ne detracta gravem faciant miracula risum, Coeperit in solitis cum remanere malis. Exuvias asinus Gaetuli iam forte leonis Repperit et spoliis induit ora novis. Aptavitque suis incongrua tegmina membris, Et miserum tanto pressit honore caput. Ast ubi terribilis aramo [sic] circumstetit horror, Pigraque praesumptus venit in ossa vigor, Mitibus ille feris communia pabula calcans Turbabat pavidas per sua rura boves. Rusticus hunc magna postquam deprendit ab aure, correptum vinclis verberibusque domat, Et simul abstracto denudans corpora tergo, Increpat his miserum vocibus ille pecus: Forsitan ignotos imitato murmure fallas, At mihi, qui quondam, semper asellus eris.
THE FARMERS, THE DONKEY AND THE LION SKIN
A story about a donkey, urging us not to yearn for more than we deserve.
A donkey wanted to appear to be a lion. Since he could not change his nature, he tried to realize his dreams by a change of costume, and like a lion he wreaked havoc on the fruits of the farmers’ labour. But when a gust of wind blew up, it stripped the lion bare of his disguise. As soon as the farmers whose crops he had eaten saw that he was just a donkey, they came and clubbed him to death.
Adornments that do not belong to you can be dangerous.
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