The Deer without a Heart

The Deer without a Heart is an ancient fable, attributed to Aesop, about a deer (or an ass in some versions^[1]) who was persuaded by a wily jackal to visit the ailing lion and thus to ingratiate himself with the sick king of the animals. The lion killed the deer. The jackal stole and ate the deer’s heart. The lion suspected the jackal of the theft, but the jackal argued that a deer who was so foolish as to visit a lion in his den must be without a heart. The fable reflects the ancient belief that the heart was the seat of thoughts and intellect. This belief has long since been discarded and modern versions often replace the heart with the brain.^[1][2])