Fetch the Numidian lion I brought over;
If she be sprung from royal blood, the lion
Will do her reverence, else he will tear her.
Beaumont and Fletcher, The Mad Lover (1617).
The lion will not touch the true prince.--Shakespeare, 1 Henry IV. act ii. sc. 4 (1598).
The lion hates the game-cock, and is jealous of it. Some say because the cock wears a crown (its crest), and others because it comes into the royal presence “booted and spurred.”
The fiercest lion trembles at the crowing of a cock.--Pliny, Natural History, viii. 19.
According to legend, the lion’s whelp is born dead, and remains so for three days, when the father breathes on it, and it receives life.
Lizard. The lizard is man’s special enemy, but warns him of the approach of a serpent.
Magpie. To see one magpie is unlucky; to see two denotes merriment, or a marriage; to see three, a successful journey; four, good news; five, company.--Grose.