THE LION AND THE FOX

    Once upon a time, there was an old lion. He had become so old that he could hardly hunt any more. So he had to go hungry for days at a time.

    I have lost all my strength and speed and agility to hunt. I can hardly catch any animals as I used to, thought the lion. I’ll have to do something about it. I think I have an idea. I shall pretend to be sick and when the animals come to visit me I shall eat them.

    So, when he heard someone passing near his den, he quickly lay down and began to moan and groan loudly as if he was in great pain. Now, it happened to be the squirrel passing by and when she heard the moans and groans, she stopped and listened. When she heard them coming from the lion’s den, she wanted to run away at first, but then she felt pity and entered the den to enquire.

    When the squirrel entered the den, the lion called out, “Who is it?”

    “It’s me, the squirrel,” came the reply.

    “Oh, please, do come in,” said the lion in a weak voice.

    By now, the squirrel had reached where the lion was lying moaning and groaning.

    “What is the matter with you?” asked the squirrel. “Why are you lying there moaning and groaning?”

    “Oh! Squirrel,” groaned the lion. “I’m so sick and feel so weak. I’m so glad you came. I feel so lonely. I would dearly like somebody to come and talk to me every day.”

    The squirrel felt pity on him and decided to tell the other animals about the sick old lion. Soon, one by one the animals came to see him. The lion would pounce on the animal and eat him up. All the animals had come to see him except the fox. The lion began to wonder why the fox had not come to see him. So he sent a message to the fox to come and see him.

    When the fox got the message, he decided to pay the lion a visit.

   But, when he reached the den, he did not go in. He called the lion to come outside.

    “Do come in, Mr. Fox,” said the lion in a weak voice, “You know I can’t come out. I can hardly walk.”

    But, the fox insisted on the lion come out. Finally, the lion came to the mouth of the den slowly with a lot moans and groans and sat down.

    “I wanted to see you so much,” said the lion. “I haven’t seen you for a long time. You know my sight is not all that good now. I can hardly see you from here. Please come and sit near me and be comfortable.”

    “I’m quite comfortable here, thank you,” said the fox.

   “Why won’t you come near me, Mr. Fox?” asked the lion.

    “Well, it’s like this. You see all these paw marks, I see all of them going in, but I don’t see any of them coming out,” replied the fox.

    So saying, he ran away as fast as he could.

   Soon, all the animals knew that the lion was only pretending to be sick and nobody went to see him again.