Roger L'Estrange, Fables of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists… (1692)
“ Only the one is that to the Ear, which the other is to the Mind, and a Man may better endure the Shocking of his Sense, then the Affronting of his Reason. The Lion, ’tis true, might have kept better Company; but so long as it was only for his Diversion, it gives us to Understand how far Great Men may be allow'd to make themselves Merry with Buffoons. The Wolves running away from the Ass, while the Lion was looking on, tells us in the Allegory, that Favourite Asses have the Privilege of Favorite Dogs ”
