The Greedy Lion and the Clever Little Rabbit

The Greedy Lion and Clever Little Rabbit, a tale from the ancient Indian collection of stories called The Panchatantra. A long time ago in India, there was a jungle full of beautiful plants and trees, flowers and fruit, and many animals lived happily there. Deer, monkeys, rabbits and wild boar in this jungle, there was also a fierce Lion who had protected the other animals in the past. But over the years had become greedy and mean. He had begun to attack the other animals, even when he wasn't hungry. The animals in the forest became very scared and had a meeting to decide what should be done. They went to the line and said, "All Mighty One, you have been killing all the animals in the forest, and we beg you to stop." The Lion laughed and said, "You puny creatures. I am the king of the jungle, and I can do what I please. Why should I stop?" At this the animal spoke up. "We know you are the king and can kill as many of us as you please, but if you keep doing this, soon, we will all be dead." Again the Lion laughed and said, "Why should I care about you? I will kill you if I wish." "But Dear Lion," the animal said timidly, "If you kill us all, soon you will have no food left, and then what will you eat? You too will be hungry. Let us provide you with food instead." The Lion realized that what the animals was saying was true and asked them what their plan was. "Every day we will send you one animal to eat. That way you will not be hungry, and the jungle will continue to have many animals in it." "Hmm," thought the Lion he saw the wisdom of that plan and agreed and for a while all was calm again in the forest. The animals began to enjoy themselves once more. The deer could graze in peace, the monkeys swung happily in the trees, and the lizards and snakes lay in the sun enjoying the warmth. But every day what an animal had to go to the Lion so he could be fed. One day it was the turn of a little Rabbit to be eaten by the Lion. Now as you can imagine, the little Rabbit did not like this at all, but the little Rabbit knew that the Lion must eat and this was the only way to protect the animals. So it set off to go to the Lion's den. The Rabbit took its time stopping to smell the flowers, to hop around with some baby monkeys, to eat some delicious fruit, and to drink some cool water it pulled up from a deep well on the way. As it looked into the well, the Rabbit had an idea and began to think about it, as it continued slowly on to the Lion den. Since the Rabbit had taken so much time to reach its den, the Lion had become ravenously hungry and was very angry. "What is the meaning of this," roared the Lion. "Why are you so late? And how is one teeny Rabbit supposed to fill my stomach?" The loud roar of the Lion terrified the Rabbit, but it bravely looked up and said, "Oh Mighty Lion. I am very sorry I am so late, but let me tell you what happened." "Tell me," said the Lion. "And then I am going to go and eat up as many of your friends as I like. I am very angry." " Dear Lion," said the Rabbit. "The animals in the jungle know how big your appetite is and they had actually sent six rabbits today. As we were coming along we were attacked by another bigger and stronger Lion." "What?!" roared the Lion. "Is there another Lion in the forest that is eating my animals?" "Oh yes," the Rabbit meekly. "We told him that we were coming to you and he did not care. And after he ate up my five companions. He told me he was only letting me go because I was so scrawny and so that I could bring a message to you." The Rabbit paused, trembling with fear. "Well, what is the message? Hurry up and tell me." "That Lion said he was the new king of the jungle, and that you should leave immediately." The Lion was beside himself with rage now and immediately said, "Take me to this other Lion, I will show him who is the true king." The Rabbit quickly took the line to the deep well with its calm water, and pointing inside it said, "Dear Lion, the new Lion who ate my friends lives down this hole." The Lion looked into the well, and seeing his reflection thought there was another Lion there. He roared out loud and rage, and an echo came back at him from the depths of the well. This angered him even more, and he roared again. Another echo of a roar came right back at him. The Lion was so angry now he leapt into the well to attack. And that my friends was the end of the mean Lion. The Rabbit quickly hopped on home to the other animals who were shocked to see it return alive. Once they heard the Rabbit's story, they were very happy. And from that day on, the animals lived in peace in that jungle, and the jungle thrived once more.