Bede, on Prov 26:13

“The slothful man saith: There is a lion in the way, and a lioness in the roads.”

“The sluggard says, A lion is in the way, etc. Many, when they hear words of exhortation, blame the devil, saying that they indeed wish to begin the path of righteousness, but are hindered by Satan so that they might not accomplish it; and thus, with such words of excuse, they always turn on the hinge of their own sloth like a door; proposing now to go out to work and now to return to rest, they never cease to lie in their own perversities.”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.