Life, 1898-12-03 · page 24 of 40
Life — December 3, 1898 — page 24: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This illustrated poem by Oliver Herford satirizes social hierarchy and pretension through animal characters. A lion (representing authority and nobility—the "King of Beasts") rages impotently in a cage while a lady observes. A mouse outside mocks the scene, noting that if the mighty lion cannot intimidate the lady, what does that make the mouse? The joke inverts expected power: the "king" is caged and powerless; a mere mouse proves braver and more effective (escaping with food). The poem's French title, "Lèse Majeste" (an offense against royal dignity), underscores the irony—the lion's majesty is thoroughly diminished. This reflects early 20th-century humor mocking social pretense: those claiming authority or status are often revealed as ineffectual, while humble underlings succeed through wit and persistence.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
464 = ; * HE Lion ramps around the cage, The Lady smiles to see him rage. The little Mouse outside the bars Looks on and laughs. “Well, bless my stars!” Quoth he, “to think they call that thing The King of Beasts! It he's 8 King, Who cannot make the Lady wince, What mast / be? When, not long since, Lése Majeste. Inside the cage I chanced to slip, You should have seen that Lady skip Upon the Lion's back. ‘Help! Murder! A Mouse!" she screamed; you should have heard her! And then with brooms the keepers came And drove me out (but, all the same, I got the crumb that I was after). A King, indeed! Excuse my laughter t” Oliver Herford. comicbooks.com