Aesop's Fables (Joseph Jacobs)
Jacobs 49. The Ass in the Lion's Skin (Perry
An Ass once found a Lion's skin which the hunters had left out in the
sun to dry. He put it on and went towards his native village. All fled
at his approach, both men and animals, and he was a proud Ass that day.
In his delight he lifted up his voice and brayed, but then every one knew
him, and his owner came up and gave him a sound cudgelling for the fright
he had caused. And shortly afterwards a Fox came up to him and said: "Ah,
I knew you by your voice."
Fine clothes may disguise, but silly words will disclose a fool.
Fables of Aesop, by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by
Richard Heighway (1894). The page images come from Google
Books. The digitized text comes from Project
Gutenberg. You can purchase this inexpensive Dover edition, The
Fables of Aesop by Joseph Jacobs from amazon.com.