“I am quite satisfied,” said the lion, and they made the bet. Without saying a single word, the gnat jumped on to the nose of the lion, and digging its point into the flesh of the lion sucked the blood until it was full, but the lion could not do anything to her. When she had finished, she asked the lion:
“What do you say now? have I not beaten you? Now it is your turn to show me your strength.”
“I am so strong that if a man should happen to pass here I could eat him up.”
He had scarcely finished speaking when a boy happened to pass. The lion, as soon as he saw him, wanted to catch him and eat him. “Stop,” said the gnat, “this is not yet a man, wait until he grows to be a man.” The lion felt ashamed and let the boy pass.
Soon afterwards a very old man happened to pass. Again the lion, saying, “Now, a man is passing,” wanted to get hold of him. And again the gnat stopped him, saying, “This is no longer a man, he has been so some long time ago. It is a pity to break your teeth on him.” And the lion left him also alone.
Now there came riding along a hussar.
“This is a man,” said the gnat, “go for him and show your strength.”
The lion went for him, but when the hussar saw him he drew his sword and smote him two or three times over his head. The lion, seeing that this was not a joke, turned tail and ran away; there was his road to safety. The gnat, following him, settled on his ear and asked him how he felt. The lion, half-stunned, replied:
“That foolish man drew a rib from his side and hacked lustily away and had I not run away only bits of me would have been left.”
Hence the proverb, “However small, the gnat proved more powerful than the lion.”