His answer he’d obtain; his purpose did not leak.
He’d speak in parables, and so convey his wish,
That foes might hear, but not suspect its purport. Pish!
He’d ferret out in answers all he wished to learn;
And still not give an inkling of his thought’s real turn.”160
Enough we’ve said of this. Now turn we to our tale.
By puss the lion’s held right hungry in the vale.
And so it was; the hare his counsel did conceal;
He would not let his comrades learn how he would deal.
Some hours he now let pass before he took his leave;