The Lion, The Apple, and William Tell

Spotted this right on the SW corner of Logan and Sacramento. The lion is high enough from the sidewalk that someone would have to stretch a bit, to rest this apple on its head.

The lion serves as a kind of spigot or drain, for excess rainwater. But I’m not sure if it’s simply a runoff from the porch area, or if it’s hooked in to the gutter system higher up.

I’ve seen water coming from its mouth only a handful of times, but never seem to have my camera when it’s raining hard enough for this to happen.

Funny enough, my first thought when seeing this was of the legend of William Tell – which you should totally read, by the way. I always assumed Tell was showing off his marksmanship skills, but there’s more to the story than that.

Turns out, the history of the apple-shot is larger than the Tell story… and the original tale involes Tell performing the shot as a punishment, dictated by Albrecht Gessler.

I erroneously thought Tell used a bow and arrow, but the legend describes him using a crossbow and bolts. On top of that, Tell purportedly took out two bolts: one to hit the apple atop his son’s head; the other was in case he accidentally killed his son, and would be used to assasinate Gessler.

// Edit: In hindsight, that green thing seems a little small to be an apple. But I dont know what else it might be…

Related:
Apple Picking At Heinz Orchard
Butternut Squash, Apple And Onion Galette With Pan-Roasted Chicken
Lincoln Park Zoo