The vale a prison had become in every sense.
A consultation held, they fair proposals state,
To satisfy the lion’s hunger by a rate;
But on condition that he rapine lay aside,
And not prolong disquiet in that valley wide.5
The lion gave consent, if they’d perform their part;
Remarking: “I’ve a victim been to wily art.
Man persecutes me with his deadly stratagems;
The snake and scorpion sting me;—rancour’s true emblems.
But worse than any man, in venom and in spleen,