The Farmer and the Lion
A lion entered one day into a farmyard, and the farmer, wishing to catch him, shut the gate. When the lion found that he could not get out, he began at once to attack the sheep and then the oxen. The farmer, afraid for himself, opened the gate and the Lion made off as fast as he could.
His wife, who had observed it all, when she saw her husband in great trouble at the loss of his cattle, cried out; "You are rightly served; for what could have made you so mad as to wish to detain a creature, whom, if you saw at a distance, you would wish further off?"
Better scare a thief than snare him.