How Love Overpowers Reason

A man forged an iron gauntlet for his fist, meaning to test his strength against a lion. But when the lion pulled him in with its claws, he felt no strength left in that fist at all. Someone shouted, 'Why lie there helpless like a woman? Strike it with your iron fist!' I heard the poor man answer from beneath the beast: 'A fist like this is no argument against a lion.' When love overpowers the wise man's reason, it is exactly like this: the fist against the lion. Once you are caught in the claws of a man-slaying lion, what good will an iron fist do you? When love arrives, say no more of reason, for the ball lies helpless in the grip of the mallet.