The Bowman and the Lion

An archer climbed into the hills with his bow. Most animals fled. A lion stayed and dared him to fight. The archer loosed an arrow and struck the lion.

“There!” he called. “That is only my messenger. Wait a moment, and I will come and deal with you myself.”

Feeling the sting, the lion ran. A fox who had watched it all mocked him.

“Don’t be a coward!” said the fox. “Why won’t you stay and fight?”

“Not me,” said the lion. “If he sends a messenger like that ahead of him, the man himself must be even worse.”

Give a wide berth to those who can harm you from far away.

About this fable

Vernon Jones calls this fable “The Archer and the Lion” in his 1912 translation of Aesop; this page keeps the name “The Bowman and the Lion.” In the original the archer calls his arrow his “messenger,” and the lion decides that anyone who sends such a messenger ahead must be terrible to meet.

The moral printed under the fable advises keeping well away from those who can hurt you from a distance. The wounded lion simply runs off, and nothing has been changed for younger readers.

Read the original: V. S. Vernon Jones, Aesop’s Fables: A New Translation (Project Gutenberg #11339)

Reading guidance: Ages 6–8 with an adult available; a lion is wounded by an arrow and escapes. The injury is brief and non-graphic.

A closer reading

The arrow is called a ‘messenger’ because it arrives before the archer. The joke turns the wound into a preview of a meeting the lion no longer wants. He revises his earlier confidence when new evidence reaches him.

The fox urges a fight while standing outside its danger. The lion, who has actually been wounded, refuses to let mockery decide his next move. Leaving is a reasonable response to this threat; the fable does not require him to prove courage by accepting more harm.

Try this with the story

Read the fox’s challenge and the lion’s reply aloud in different voices. Identify who would bear the cost of following the fox’s advice. Then replace the insult with a helpful sentence the fox could say.

Questions to ask

• Why did the archer call his arrow a messenger?
• Was the lion a coward, as the fox said, or was he wise to run? Why do you think so?
• What would you have said to the fox if you were the lion?

Related stories

• The Oak and the Reed — another Aesop fable where giving way turns out to be the wiser choice
• The Lion and the Mouse — a different lion, and a very different lesson about strength
• The Fox and the Grapes — a fox with plenty to say about something he cannot do himself