The Donkey and the Lion
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Once up on a time there was a donkey. He suddenly decided that he had enough of hard work and beatings from his mater.
`I know,’ he thought, `I will flee to the forest and live in freedom! I will graze on the forest grass and who will there be to prevent it?’
So without thinking too long, he ran away from is master into the forest. He was very happy there. He graze wherever he wanted to, did not have to work, nobody beat him- in all his born days he ha never lived so well. But one day, while grazing, he looked up and saw the lio0n, frightening beyond description, coming straight toward him.
`Oh' thought the donkey. `This will probably be the end of me!’
But while the lion was approaching, he somehow came to his senses and began to consider a way out.
`Maybe I can outwit him in some way?’
And right where he stood, he suddenly fell to the ground, and lay there as if without a care in the world. The Lion approached and began roaring out while still at a distance.
`Hey, you, who might you, are? How dare you lie there when I am approaching? Why re not you getting up to bow to me?’
The donkey continued to lie there as if he did not hear. He lay quietly, only flapping his long ears from time to time.
`Get up immediately and salute me!’
`And who might you be?’ asked the donkey.
`You are asking yet?’ the Lion roared threateningly. `Don’t you know that I am the Lion, king of all the beasts?’
Without rising, the donkey raised is head, and his eyes goggled at him.
`What kind of nonsense is this you are talking?’ he asked. `You are king of all the beasts/ who told you such a thing? Do you have it in writing? Who elected you to be king? Well, speak up!’
The Lion stood as if he had been stunned.
`Who told me so?’ Why, everyone tells me that I am king of the beasts. Are you saying that it is not true?’
`Of course it’s not true! It can not be true, because I am the king of all the beasts!’
`You?’ the Lion was dumbfounded. `And I suppose you have this in writing/’
`Of course I have! Here, take a look!’
He rose to his feet and turning his back to the Lion, he showed him his hind hoof where a very new horseshoe gleamed.
`See this! This is my royal seal. If you were the king you’d have one like it’.
`How astonishing!’ marveled the Lion? `I have never ever thought about such a thing. You are probably right. But wait! Let’s have a contest. W will go into the forest and the one who catches more animals within an hour is the true king.’
`Fine, if that’s the way you wish it, `Said the donkey, and with that they went their separate ways.
The Lion raced quickly around the forest; he ran and ran, catching a doe here, a rabbit there, another animal! Further on-in an hour he had collected some five or six animals. He gathered them all up and dragged them back to the donkey. But what was the donkey doing in the meantime? He strolled out onto a board clearing, where the sun shone brightly, and on reaching the centre, threw himself down on the ground, stretched out his legs, closed his eyes and looled his long tongue out of his mouth as far as it would go.
Anyone looking at him would have sworn he was dead- very dead. Over the clearing there was a constant flow of flying –hawks, crows, kites, magpies, raven’s-all the nastiest kind. Seeing the donkey lyi9ng there dead they descend on him in a mob. At first they hopped about at a distance, and when they saw that he was not moving, they began to light on him and peck at his tongue and his eyes. The donkey lay quietly, only one of the birds came too close did he clamp it between his teeth or knock it with his hoof, killing it and hiding it under his body so cunningly that the others did not even notice it.
Before an hour had passed he had killed at least a score. Then he sparing to his feet, shook himself so vigorously and brayed so loudly that the birds scattered in all directions. He then gathered up all his killed birds and took them to the spot where he was to meet the Lion. The Lion was already there, waiting for him.
`Well, now’’, he said to the donkey, showing him his prey. `See how many I have killed?’
`How aren’t you the stupid one!’ answered the donkey, kicking at the dead animals. `I could have caught at least two score of such animals, but what are they worth? Now just you look at mine! I caught only those that fly in the air. You try to do it!’
`No, I am not up to such a trick,’ answered the Lion. `At last I can see that you are truly the king of the beasts, not I. forgive me for being so disrespectful toward you’.
`Ha!’ the donkey said, haughtily. `You must always be respectful, because you may suddenly meet someone who is your superior, and then what? I could now punish you immediately with death, but I will forgive you because you did this cut of ignorance and not from ill-will. Go now, and be more careful another time!’
And the Lion went, dejected, his tail between his legs as if someone had poured a barrel of ice-cold water over him. But neither near, nor too far away, he brother Fox in the forest.
`Good heath to you, most illustrious king!’ greeted the fox, bowing low.
`Ekh, go away and don’t make fun of me!’ answered the lion sadly. `What king of a king am I?’
`What do you mean?’ yelped the fox. `Who would dare to say otherwise?’
`Quiet, brother,’ whispered the Lion. `The true king is not far from here. If he hears us, it will be bad for both you and me.’
`The true king,’ the fox was stated. `What is this? Who else could be true king but you?’
`There is, there is!’ the Lion whispered in terror.
`I saw him self. He is terrifying! And what strength! He can even catch the animals that fly in the air. I thank god that he let me go alive.’
`Is that so?’ the fox was amazed. `Stranger and stranger, I know this forest intimately and I can’t think of who this could be? How does the king look?’
`In a word-terrifying’, the Lion said. `His ears are like this, his head like a bucket and the royal seal on his hind leg.’
`For the life of me, I can’t guess who this could be,’ worried the Fox. `You know what, come and show him tome.’
`Me? Never in the world,’ shouted the Lion. `It’s enough that I was frightened once!’
`Oh, come now! What is there to be afraid of?’ encouraged the Fox.
`You know what, let’s tie our tails together and then we can approach him with more courage.’
`Oh! Well!’ agreed the lion. `Let it be as you say’.
So they tied their tails together and off they went. They climbed up on a hilltop overlooking the clearing where the Donkey was grazing. The Lion stopped, looked, and then whispered to the Fox: `There he is! There he is! Look!’
The fox turned took a look, and yelped: `you foolish lion, why that’s just an old ass!’
But to the Lion it sounded as if he said that they must get away fast and he became so frightened that he took to his heels! Over stumps, over streams –he ran as fast his breath would let him. Finally he was so tired that he stopped and looked behind him.
`Now Fox,’ he asked, `have we escaped far enough?’
But the Fox was beyond speech, his tongue hanging out. Science he was tied to the Lion’s tail, he was dragged all the way and was hardly able to breathe.
`See,’ said the Lion, `you said that the new king wasn’t terrifying, but when you saw him for yourself you almost died from fright!’.