English for Students

Aesop’s Fables : Pale Hunter

Let us enjoy reading this one of Aesop’s Fables of Pale Hunter.

A man who wanted to be known as a fearless hunter set out to bag game.

He found the tracks of a lion and followed them till they disappeared in stony ground.

Just then, a woodcutter came by.

“Look here, my man," said the hunter grandly. "I was following a lion and have lost his tracks. Can you help me find them again?"

""There's no need to look for his tracks," said the woodcutter. "I'll take you to the lion himself."

The hunter turned pale.

"The l-lion," he said, "no, no, just show me his tracks."

Moral: One who pretends to be what he is not is soon exposed.