In Mediaeval times a story about a peasant who really had the power to charm fishes to the shore with his harp-playing appeared in the Gesta Romanorum,[10] while dancing fishes figure in a fable by Ivan Krylov. There the king of the beasts has given the fox guardianship of the rivers but, when he comes on a tour of inspection, discovers the fox cooking the fish. Asked for an explanation, the fox explains that the fish in the boiling water are dancing for joy at the lion’s visit.[11]