English midterm
Sappho: Poems, 1,
"Fragment 1" is an extended address from Sappho to Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. The poem begins with Sappho praising the goddess before begging her not to break her heart by letting her beloved continue to evade her. She asks Aphrodite to instead aid her as she has in the past. Last time, she recalls, the goddess descended in a chariot drawn by birds, and, smiling, asked Sappho what happened to make her so distressed, why she was calling out for help, what she wanted Aphrodite to do, and who Sappho desired. The goddess interspersed her questions with the refrain "now again," reminding Sappho that she had repeatedly been plagued by the trials of love—drama she has passed on to the goddess. Nevertheless, she reassured Sappho that her prayer would be answered, and that the object of her affection would love her in return. In the final stanza, Sappho leaves this memory and returns to the present, where she again asks Aphrodite to come to her and bring her her heart's desires.
Sappho: Poems, 16
"Fragment 16" is an extended argument for the supreme importance of love. In the first stanza, the speaker contrasts her own views with presiding male opinion. Various groups of men say that military might, whether on horse, on foot, or in ships, is the most beautiful thing in the world. The speaker, however, says that that honor belongs to whoever you love. She argues this first by recalling how Helen, herself the most beautiful of women and hence well-versed in the subject, abandoned her husband, her home, and all her family without regret in order to chase love in Troy. The next bit of the poem is missing, but it seems that Helen reminds the speaker of her own lover, Anaktoria, who has since departed. The speaker longs for her and would rather see just a glimpse of her than a grand display of military might. Most of the rest of the fragment is destroyed, but what remains seems to juxtapose the reality of worldly limitation with the continuous potential for unexpected happenings.
The Jataka: plot and characters
"The Golden goose", "The Hare's self-sacrifice", "The Monkey's Heroic Self-Sacrifice"
Classic of Poetry: "Zhongzi, Please"
A suitor with very strong desires! The girl fears a scandal. Zhongzi, don't cross my village wall and break the willows. My mom and dad already know you are trying to see me...and they don't like it! Don't cross my fence and crush the mulberries. My brothers will see that and there'll be trouble. Don't come into my garden and trample the sandalwood. The neighbors will talk.
Aesop's Fables: introduction, plot and characters
Aesop's Fables is the name given to a collection of short, moralistic stories attributed to Aesop, a Thracian wise man who spent most of his life in slavery on the island Samos. The stories each contain hybrids of myth, legend, and social parable, reframing many elements from the oral tradition within Aesop's didactic moral universe
Golden Goose in The Jataka
Born a brahmin and growing up was married to a bride of his own rank, who bore him 3 daughters named Nanda, Nandavati and Sundarinanda.Bodhisatta reincarnated, offered his golden feathers to his family, got plucked by his wife; feathers eventually grew back white & he flew away never to return again. What the goose gives his family to be sold for money so they can live comfortably. He wanted to put an end to their miserable working for hire. These women grew prosperous because of the sale of his feathers.
Enkidu
Companion and friend of Gilgamesh. Hairy-bodied and brawny, Enkidu was raised by animals. Even after he joins the civilized world, he retains many of his undomesticated characteristics. Enkidulooks much like Gilgameshand is almost hisphysical equal. He aspires to be Gilgamesh's rival but instead becomes his soul mate. The gods punish Gilgamesh and Enkidu by giving Enkidu a slow, painful, inglorious death for killing the demon Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven.
"The Eagle and the Farmer,"
Farmer catches a beautiful eagle but then lets the eagle go instead of killing then the eagle saved the farmer later in the story from a falling wall.
"The Lion, The Fox, and The Deer,
Having been sick Lion, is you lay in a cave, telling the Fox, which estimated much and who had very good friends:--If you want to help me to cure me and that still alive, seduces with your cunning to deer and bring it here, because I'm packed their meat.-- I come to give you excellent news - was to say the Fox to the deer. As you know, the lion, our King, is my neighbor; but it turns out that he has fallen sick and is very serious. I wondered what animal could replace him as King after his death.And told me: "wild boar, so not is not very intelligent; the bear is very awkward; Panther very temperamental; the Tiger is a blowhard; "I think that the deer is the most worthy of reign, it is slender, long life, and feared by the snakes by its horns." But what I tell you, it is determined that you will be the King.And that I get by having it announced first? Answer me, that I have haste and fear to call me, because I am his counselor. But if you want to hear an experienced, I advise that I follow and join the lion faithfully until his death.He had finished speaking the Fox, and the deer, full of vanity with those words, walked decided to cave without suspecting what would happen.To see it, the lion rushed him, but only managed to scratch her ears. The deer, frightened, quickly fled into the forest.The Fox hit is legs to see lost your game. And the lion threw loud cries, stimulated by his hunger and grief. He pleaded with the Fox to try it again. And he said the Fox:--It's painful and difficult, but I'll try.He came out of the cave and followed in the footsteps of the deer until it replacing its forces.Seeing deer, angered and ready to attack it, he said:--Miserable bitch, do not come to deceive me! If you give one step further, have you dead! Looking for others who do not know you, talk nice to them and upload them smoke promising them the throne, but already no more to me.But the cunning Fox replied:-- But Mr Hart, don't be so loose and funky. Not desconfíes of us who are your friends. The lion, to take your ear, just wanted to tell you secret tips and instructions on how to govern, and you don't even have patience for a simple scratch of a sick old man. It is now furious against you and you're thinking about making King the fearless Wolf. Poor!, all it suffers by being the master! Come with me, you have nothing to fear, but that Yes, be humble as a lamb. I swear by all this jungle that you should not fear anything lion. And as to me, only intend to serve you.And deceived again, he left the deer toward the cave. There was more that entered, when already the lion saw fully satiated your whim, not leaving or memory of the deer. However the heart fell to the ground, and the Fox took him on the sly, as payment for their efforts. And the lion looking for the missing heart asked the Fox by it. The Fox replied:--That naive deer had no heart, nor look it. What kind of heart could have a stag which came twice to the House and the paw of the lion? Never let the desire of honours to disturb your good judgment, so you are not caught by the danger.
Sappho: Poems, 31
In the first stanza, Sappho introduces us to the three main characters of the poem—the speaker, the beloved, and the man she is speaking to. In the very first line, we learn that the speaker is impressed with the man, even to the point of deifying him. However, the speaker doesn't admire him because of his own merit, but because he gets to sit with and speak to the woman who Sappho addresses as "you" throughout the poem. The speaking describes the couple as if looking at them from afar, watching the two of them seated across from one another and speaking closely to each other.
"The Tortoise and the Hare,"
In this story an arrogant Hare makes fun of a slow-moving Tortoisewho decides to challenge the Hare to a race. As the race begins, the Harequickly runs ahead of the Tortoise. But, over confident, the Hare decides to sit and rest, and soon falls asleep. When the Hare awakes from his nap, he discovers that thesteady paced and determined Tortoise has gone ahead and won the race.
Gilgamesh
King of Uruk, the strongest of men, and the personification of all human virtues. A brave warrior, fair judge, and ambitious builder, Gilgamesh surrounds the city of Uruk with magnificent walls and erects its glorious ziggurats, or temple towers. Two-thirds god and one-third mortal, Gilgameshis undone by grief when his beloved companion Enkidu dies, and by despair at the prospect of his own extinction. He travels to the ends of the Earth in search of answers to the mysteries of life and death.
Arjuna
Krishna expounds on the depths of his power and the extent of his domain. He says that the gods and sages do not know his origins, for he is the source of all these deities. All the qualities of human beings - wisdom, understanding, forgiveness, pleasure, pain -- all come from him as well. He bore the earth and all its natural laws from his own mind. Arjuna asks Krishna to tell him of all his glories, of everything he could possibly do. Krishna responds by saying he is the true Self of every being, as well as the most glorious of every sphere on Earth and in the Heavens. He is Vishnu, the sun, Marichi, Mount Meru, the Ganges, Om. He is birth, death, and every other ritual that is trusted and venerated. He is the judge, jury, and executioner. But Krishna tells Arjuna that there is no end to his divine attributes, so there is no reason to enumerate them. Instead, he says, "just know I am everywhere where there is strength, beauty, and spiritual power" - and that he can support the cosmos with a fraction of his being. Arjuna asks Krishna to show him his immortal self, so that he might see Krishna out of human form - in his ultimate incarnation as the divinity. Krishna obliges and allows Arjuna to see him in his most majestic power, and appears with "an infinite number of faces, ornamented by heavenly jewels, displaying unending miracles, and countless weapons of his power." He reveals himself as the source of all wonder, with the power of a thousand suns. Arjuna recounts everything that he sees, as he looks at Krishna in his ultimate form -- and sees him as the creator and destroyer of everything on Earth. Arjuna is rightfully in awe, and clearly anxious at the sight of Krishna in his most powerful avatar. He apologizes for ever treating Krishna too casually in his human form, and acknowledges him as the father of the universe who must be treated with ultimate respect. Krishna, sensing Arjuna's fear, returns to his normal form. Krishna tells Arjuna, now back in his human form, that he is lucky to have seen what he has, because even the gods have longed to see Krishna in his ultimate form. No matter what a person does -- even if he achieves the highest power of yoga, meditation, etc. -- he cannot see Krishna in his godly form. But he revealed himself to Arjuna so he may understand the true power of the divinity. Arjuna is thankful for what he has seen. Arjuna asks who is more self-realized - those who try to find union with Krishna or those who search for the formless reality beneath the surface. Krishna says that those who focus on him, the divine, and put all their devotion and faith into him will find peace first. He says there are many paths to yoga -- worshiping him, finding peace in the unknown, selfless service, or even a simple abdication of results -- but to find love of the divinity is to truly put yourself on the path to yoga. Krishna says that he himself loves those incapable of ill will, who are friendly and compassionate, beyond the I, me, and mine, which corrupt souls. The truly wise person is detached, pure, efficient, never anxious, and a pure devotee to God. Those who are truly self-realized meditate upon this immortal dharma - full of faith, seeking God as their ultimate goal.
The onager in Aesop's fable, "The Onager, the Donkey, and the Driver."
Onager congratulates a donkey on his good physical condition then see a driver on top of donkey hitting the donkey with a club then the onager says he will not admire his good fortune anymore seeing that it is such a high price.
Sappho
Only greek female whose ancient works still last today. Sappho was likely a member of the cult of Aphrodite, a group of women devoted to the worship of the goddess. Some of her lyrics were likely used in religious ceremonies, where they may have been performed by a chorus of women. "Fragment 2" is exclusively devoted to the goddess Aphrodite and reads as a kind of incantation summoning the goddess to the speaker(s). "Fragment 1," the only Sappho poem to survive in its entirety, is another address to the goddess Aphrodite. It develops a striking intimacy between the poet, who refers to herself by name, and the goddess. It even goes so far as drawing a parallel between "Sappho" and Aphrodite, their two voices mingling in the poem. While the speaker often addresses Aphrodite in the context of her love for a woman, her love for Aphrodite is often just as important. Along with this close personal relationship, several of the Aphrodite fragments implicitly reference a community of devotees. Sappho's connection to Aphrodite is hence inextricably connected to the web of friendships and romances that weave through her poetry.
The hare in The Jataka
Sakka (the god Indra) Puts the animal to the test by seeing what they would offer a stranger to eat on fast day, especially the hare since he said he would offer himselfOffered himself as a meal to Sakka (the god Indra). His own flesh for he had nothing to offer no grass, sesame, rice.
The Bhagavad-Gita: plot, characters,
The blind King Dhritarashtra asks Sanjaya to recount to him what happened when his family the Kauravas gathered to fight the Pandavasfor control of Hastinapura. His family isn't the rightful heir to the kingdom, but they have assumed control, and Dhritarashtra is trying to preserve it for his son Duryodhana. Sanjaya tells of Arjuna, who has come as leader of the Pandavas to take back his kingdom, with Sri Krishna as his charioteer. The Gita is the conversation between Krishna and Arjuna leading up to the battle. Arjuna doesn't want to fight. He doesn't understand why he has to shed his family's blood for a kingdom that he doesn't even necessarily want. In his eyes, killing his evil and killing his family is the greatest sin of all. He casts down his weapons and tells Krishna he will not fight. Krishna, then, begins the systematic process of explaining why it is Arjuna's dharmic duty to fight and how he must fight in order to restore his karma. Krishna first explains the samsaric cycle of birth and death. He says there is no true death of the soul -- simply a sloughing of the body at the end of each round of birth and death. The purpose of this cycle is to allow a person to work off their karma, accumulated through lifetimes of action. If a person completes action selflessly, in service to God, then they can work off their karma, eventually leading to a dissolution of the soul, the achievement of enlightenment and vijnana, and an end to the samsaric cycle. If they act selfishly, then they keep accumulating debt, putting them further and further into karmic debt.Krishna presents three main concepts for achieving this dissolution of the soul -- renunciation, selfless service, and meditation. All three are elements for achieving 'yoga,' or skill in action. Krishna says that the truly divine human does not renounce all worldly possessions or simply give up action, but rather finds peace in completing action in the highest service to God. As a result, a person must avoid the respective traps of the three gunas: rajas (anger, ego), tamas (ignorance, darkness), and saatva (harmony, purity). The highest form of meditation comes when a person not only can free themselves from selfish action, but also focus entirely on the divine in their actions. In other words, Krishna says that he who achieves divine union with him in meditation will ultimately find freedom from the endless cycle of rebirth and death. He who truly finds union with God will find him even at the moment of death. Arjuna stills seem to need evidence of Krishna's divine powers, so Arjuna appears to him in his powerful, most divine form, with the "power of one thousand suns." Seeing Krishna in his divine state, Arjuna suddenly realizes what enlightenment can bring him in union, and he now completely has faith in the yogic path. He goes on to ask Krishna how he can receive the love of God, and Krishna reveals that love comes from a person's selfless devotion to the divine, in addition to an understanding that the body is simply ephemeral -- a product of prakriti, emerging from purusha, and is subject to endless rebirth. A person must let go of their body's cravings and temptations and aversions to find freedom. The Gita ends with Krishna telling Arjuna he must choose the path of good or evil, as it his his duty to fight the Kauravas for his kingdom. In that, he is correcting the balance of good and evil, fulfilling his dharma, and offering the deepest form of selfless service. Arjuna understands and, with that, proceeds into battle.
Krishna
The blind king Dhritarashtra asks Sanjaya, who has the ability to see all, to tell him about the battle between his family and the Pandavas. The Pandavas include Arjuna and his brothers, who have come to take back the kingdom from Dhritarashtra, who means to bequeath it to his son Duryodhana, even though the crown rightfully belongs to Arjuna's brother Yudhishthira. Prince Duroydhana, considered the nemesis for our protagonist Arjuna, approaches his teacher Drona, and lists out the key members of each side. He notes that his own army is unlimited, while the Pandavas is small. Each side blows their divine conchs, signaling the war is about to begin. Arjuna asks Krishna, who has taken the form of his charioteer, to drive them into the battle. But as the chariot moves, Arjuna sees in the two armies the equal presence of his family, for Duryodhana, despite being his enemy, is also his cousin, and thus both sides are littered with "fathers, grandfathers, teachers, brothers, uncles, grandsons, in-laws and friends." Arjuna is overcome with despair and tells Krishna that he has no desire to fight if it means killing his kin. He has no need for a kingdom if it means destroying a family. He casts away his bow and arrows and sits in the chariot in the middle of the battlefield. Krishna tells Arjuna to arise with a brave heart and push forward to destroy the enemy. When Arjuna questions how he can support such sin, Krishna says there is no such thing as the killer and the killed, that the body is merely flesh -- and that at the time of death he attains another body. These limits of the superficial body should not stop someone from doing what he must do, namely defeating evil and restoring the power of good. The true master, says Krishna, realizes that reality lies in the eternal; such people are not affected by the temporary changes that come with the senses. Instead, as a warrior, he must follow his dharma, or duty, where nothing is higher than the war against evil. If he shirks from this battle, however, then Arjuna will incur sin, violating his dharma and his honor. In Krishna's eyes, death means the attainment of heaven, and victory the enjoyment of earth, so there will be no pain in fighting. Krishna also extols the notion of yoga -- or skill in action -- as a path towards finding resoluteness, focus. He encourages Arjuna to not see the results of action, but rather focus on the work itself -- as a man within himself, without selfish attachments, alike in success and defeat. Krishna tells Arjuna that the definition of a wise man is one who is unconcerned with whether things are "good or bad," but rather abandon attachments to the fruits of labor, allowing them to attain a state beyond evil. When a man is unmoved by the confusion of ideas, and is united simply in the peace of action without thoughts of results, he can attain perfect yoga. Arjuna asks what a man who has achieved perfect yoga acts like -- how he sits, how he moves, how he can be recognized. Krishna says this kind of man is not agitated by negative emotions -- lust, fear, anger. They are naturally meditative, and do not respond to good fortune or bad fortune. They have no attachment to the material, and live not in the senses, but in the self. They are free from ego -- the 'I, me, mine' which cause pain.
The Epic of Gilgamesh: plot, major characters
The epic's prelude offers a general introduction to Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, who was two-thirds god and one-third man. He built magnificent ziggurats, or temple towers, surrounded his city with high walls, and laid out its orchards and fields. He was physically beautiful, immensely strong, and very wise. Although Gilgamesh was godlike in body and mind, he began his kingship as a cruel despot. He lorded over his subjects, raping any woman who struck his fancy, whether she was the wife of one of his warriors or the daughter of a nobleman. He accomplished his building projects with forced labor, and his exhausted subjects groaned under his oppression. The gods heard his subjects' pleas and decided to keep Gilgamesh in check by creating a wild man named Enkidu, who was as magnificent as Gilgamesh. Enkidu became Gilgamesh's great friend, and Gilgamesh's heart was shattered when Enkidu died of an illness inflicted by the gods. Gilgamesh then traveled to the edge of the world and learned about the days before the deluge and other secrets of the gods, and he recorded them on stone tablets. The epic begins with Enkidu. He lives with the animals, suckling at their breasts, grazing in the meadows, and drinking at their watering places. A hunter discovers him and sends a temple prostitute into the wilderness to tame him. In that time, people considered women and sex calming forces that could domesticate wild men like Enkidu and bring them into the civilized world. When Enkidu sleeps with the woman, the animals reject him since he is no longer one of them. Now, he is part of the human world. Then the harlot teaches him everything he needs to know to be a man. Enkidu is outraged by what he hears about Gilgamesh's excesses, so he travels to Uruk to challenge him. When he arrives, Gilgamesh is about to force his way into a bride's wedding chamber. Enkidu steps into the doorway and blocks his passage. The two men wrestle fiercely for a long time, and Gilgamesh finally prevails. After that, they become friends and set about looking for an adventure to share. Gilgamesh and Enkidu decide to steal trees from a distant cedar forest forbidden to mortals. A terrifying demon named Humbaba, the devoted servant of Enlil, the god of earth, wind, and air, guards it. The two heroes make the perilous journey to the forest, and, standing side by side, fight with the monster. With assistance from Shamash the sun god, they kill him. Then they cut down the forbidden trees, fashion the tallest into an enormous gate, make the rest into a raft, and float on it back to Uruk. Upon their return, Ishtar, the goddess of love, is overcome with lust for Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh spurns her. Enraged, the goddess asks her father, Anu, the god of the sky, to send the Bull of Heaven to punish him. The bull comes down from the sky, bringing with him seven years of famine. Gilgamesh and Enkidu wrestle with the bull and kill it. The gods meet in council and agree that one of the two friends must be punished for their transgression, and they decide Enkidu is going to die. He takes ill, suffers immensely, and shares his visions of the underworld with Gilgamesh. When he finally dies, Gilgamesh is heartbroken. Gilgamesh can't stop grieving for Enkidu, and he can't stop brooding about the prospect of his own death. Exchanging his kingly garments for animal skins as a way of mourning Enkidu, he sets off into the wilderness, determined to find Utnapishtim, the Mesopotamian Noah. After the flood, the gods had granted Utnapishtim eternal life, and Gilgamesh hopes that Utnapishtim can tell him how he might avoid death too. Gilgamesh's journey takes him to the twin-peaked mountain called Mashu, where the sun sets into one side of the mountain at night and rises out of the other side in the morning. Utnapishtim lives beyond the mountain, but the two scorpion monsters that guard its entrance refuse to allow Gilgamesh into the tunnel that passes through it. Gilgamesh pleads with them, and they relent. After a harrowing passage through total darkness, Gilgamesh emerges into a beautiful garden by the sea. There he meets Siduri, a veiled tavern keeper, and tells her about his quest. She warns him that seeking immortality is futile and that he should be satisfied with the pleasures of this world. However, when she can't turn him away from his purpose, she directs him to Urshanabi, the ferryman. Urshanabi takes Gilgamesh on the boat journey across the sea and through the Waters of Death to Utnapishtim. Utnapishtim tells Gilgamesh the story of the flood—how the gods met in council and decided to destroy humankind. Ea, the god of wisdom, warned Utnapishtim about the gods' plans and told him how to fashion a gigantic boat in which his family and the seed of every living creature might escape. When the waters finally receded, the gods regretted what they'd done and agreed that they would never try to destroy humankind again. Utnapishtim was rewarded with eternal life. Men would die, but humankind would continue. When Gilgamesh insists that he be allowed to live forever, Utnapishtim gives him a test. If you think you can stay alive for eternity, he says, surely you can stay awake for a week. Gilgamesh tries and immediately fails. So Utnapishtim orders him to clean himself up, put on his royal garments again, and return to Uruk where he belongs. Just as Gilgamesh is departing, however, Utnapishtim's wife convinces him to tell Gilgamesh about a miraculous plant that restores youth. Gilgamesh finds the plant and takes it with him, planning to share it with the elders of Uruk. But a snake steals the plant one night while they are camping. As the serpent slithers away, it sheds its skin and becomes young again. When Gilgamesh returns to Uruk, he is empty-handed but reconciled at last to his mortality. He knows that he can't live forever but that humankind will. Now he sees that the city he had repudiated in his grief and terror is a magnificent, enduring achievement—the closest thing to immortality to which a mortal can aspire.
Classic of Poetry: "Boat of Cypress,"
The mood of this poem begins as it reflects sadness, depression and someone in peril. The character within this poem appears to be forced into doing something against her wishes perhaps. She travels by boat to a place she dreads the whole entire duration of the boat ride. Apparently she suffers from this as she is in anguish, resulting in insufficient rest. Also, along this river stream she traverses much wine is being consumed. She is not with a healthy mind as she drinks to down her depression. She feels her brothers are not at her defense as mentioned "I went and told them of my grief and met only with their rage." (11-12) I can only surmise that she has violated a traditional custom of her family and for this reason her brothers are abhorrent. In further reading she expresses, "my heart is uneasy and restless, I am reproached by little men. Many are the woes I've met...I think on it in the quiet, and waking pound my breast." (19-24) It seems that she has been forced by her family to wed a man that they have chosen for her, as it is customary in many cultures. She may have been more willing had it been someone much more desirable but it pains her to marry, because she is not fond of this chosen person. This character does not seem to have conveyed her true feelings of this decision because she chooses not to speak much on it. As much as she would like to she chooses not to raise clamor.
"Demades and the Athenians,"
The orator Demades was trying to address his Athenian audience. When he failed to get their attention, he asked if he might tell them an Aesop's fable. The audience agreed, so Demades began his story. 'The goddess Demeter, a swallow, and an eel were walking together down the road. When they reached a river, the swallow flew up in the air and the eel jumped into the water.' Demades then fell silent. The audience asked, 'And what about the goddess Demeter?' 'As for Demeter,' Demades replied, 'she is angry at all of you for preferring Aesop's fables to politics!' Moral of story: It is foolish to disregard important business in favor of frivolities
The monkey king in The Jataka
The story runs that the Bodhisattva was born as a monkey, ruler over 80,000 monkeys. They lived at a spot near the Ganges and ate of the fruit of a great mango tree. King Brahmadatta of Benares, desiring to possess the mangoes, surrounded the tree with his soldiers, in order to kill the animals, but the Bodhisattva formed a bridge over the stream with his own body and by this means enabled the whole tribe to escape into safety. Devadatta, the jealous and wicked cousin of the Buddha, was in that life one of the monkeys and, thinking it a good chance to destroy his enemy, jumped on the Bodhisattva's back and broke his heart. The king, seeing the good deed of the Bodhisattva and repenting of his own attempt to kill him, tended him with great care when he was dying and afterwards gave him royal obsequies.
The speaker in Classic of Poetry's "Boat of Cypress"
a conflict between true love vs family loyalty- a woman is unhappy in her arranged marriage but she cannot leave because she would be disrespecting the family-didactic lesson to parents: love is as important as wealth
The fox in Aesop's fable, "The Fox, the Donkey, and the Lion Skin"
a fox agrees to trick his donkey friend to his doom at the hands of the lion in exchange for eternal protection. The cunning lion pretends to agree and traps and eats the donkey, then eats the fox anyway. The moral of this parable is that treachery begets more treachery, hurting one's karma by destabilizing a culture of trust.