25 Haziran 2010, Cuma
saat: 17:34
When C. Reeves of Virginia advised Lincoln to give up Forts Sumter and Pickens and other federal property in the southern states, Lincoln said: "Do you remember the fable of the lion and the woodman's daughter?" Reeve said he did not, and Lincoln proceeded to tell him the story. "Aesop," he said, "writes that a lion was very much in love with a woodman's daughter. The fair maid referred him to her father. The lion applied for the girl. The father replied: 'Your teeth are too long.' The lion went to a dentist and had them extracted. Returning, he asked for his bride. 'No,' said the woodman, 'your claws are too long.' Going back to the dentist, he had them drawn. Then he returned to claim his bride, and the woodman, seeing that he was unarmed, beat out his brains." Concluded Lincoln: "May it not be so with me, if I give up all that is asked?"
(Paul Boller, Jr - Presidential Anecdotes)
