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M0008 = Perry414. Source: Liber Kalilae et Dimnae 14.143 (shortened). This is Perry 414. In Greek versions of the fable, it is a wild boar who rebukes the lioness. For a fable about the bear’s own hypocrisy, see #130.
8. The Lioness and the Bear. There was a lion who had two cubs. She went out hunting and a certain hunter came and killed the cubs and went off with their skins. When she saw this, the lioness was sad and wept bitterly. A bear, seeing her sadness, came to her and said, "Why are you sad?" She answered, "Because a hunter killed cubs." The bear said, "Don't be sad; stop weeping. The fact is that you have suffered what you have done to others. Tell me, what have you been eating all these years?" The lioness replied, "The flesh of animals." The bear said, "Who gave the food to you?" And she said, "I caught my own food." And the bear said, "And the animals that you caught, did they have parents?" And she said, "They did." The bear said, "They grieved for their children as you now do for yours, and you yourself have now suffered just as you did to others." Hearing these things, the lioness was silent, and she repented: she stopped eating meat, and began to munch on fruits instead.
