The Lion and the Rabbit

     Hello children,

    Today is Red Nose day and so I have brought you a very special story. It is about the lion and the rabbit. 

    As you all know that a rabbit is a very cunning animal. It can get out of any situation with his quick wit. Read on and find out he gets out of a very tight and dangerous situation in a very funny way.

THE LION AND THE RABBIT

    The lion was always trying to catch the rabbit, but the rabbit was too smart for him and somehow or the other always got away.

    One the lion decided to lie in wait for him near a bush. As soon as the rabbit passed the bush the lion caught him.

    “Aha! At last,” said the lion, triumphantly. “I have caught you at last. You won’t be able to get away this time.”

    The rabbit struggled in vain. He just could not get away from the iron grip of the lion.

    “Please, let me go, Mr. Lion,” he said, desperately.

    But, the lion tightened his grip even more and would not let the poor rabbit go.

    “You know what I’m going to do?” he asked the trembling rabbit. “I’m going to make a rabbit pie. No, no. I’ll make a rabbit stew. Yes, that is what I’m going to make.”

    The slurped and passed his tongue over his lips greedily. The rabbit trembled even more and began to think of a way to escape. Then he had an idea.

    “Why don’t you have two rabbits instead of having only me for your dinner?” the rabbit asked, slyly. “You are a strong lion. I’m so small. I won’t even fill your stomach.”

    “What do you mean?” asked the lion, suspiciously. “I hope this isn’t one of your tricks.”

    “No, of course not,” said the rabbit, gathering his courage. “If you don’t get the other rabbit you can always have me for your dinner. You won’t lose anything to have a look. Besides, the other rabbit is even fatter than I am.”

    “Where did you see him?” asked the lion, greed overcoming him.

    “Well, he was with another lion near the well,” the rabbit went on when he saw the lion falling for his trick.

     “What other lion?” asked the lion with a glare. “There is no other lion in this neighbourhood. I hope this isn’t one of your tricks.”

    “There is another lion, I tell you,” argued the rabbit. “Of course, if you are afraid, you can just have me for your dinner and half fill your stomach.”

    “Me? Afraid? Never!” roared the lion, which made the whole jungle tremble.

    The rabbit trembled, too, but he kept up his courage.

    “Then, you are going to get the other rabbit?” asked the rabbit, in spite of his trembling.

   

    “Of course. Just show me where the other lion is living and I’ll get the other rabbit from him,” said the lion, confidently puffing out his chest.

    The rabbit saw that the lion had really and truly fallen for his trick. So he led the way and the lion followed. They walked for quite a sometime until they came to an old well. Here the rabbit stopped.

    “He lives down there,” whispered the rabbit pretending that the other lion would hear him.

    “Really? We’ll see about that,” said the lion, again puffing out his chest and leaning over the well wall to see inside.

    Sure enough, he saw another lion staring back at him.

    Now, what really happened was that, there was water in the well. As you know, when the water is smooth and there are no ripples, you can see the reflections in it, which he thought was another lion. The rabbit jumped on the wall and his reflection was seen in the water as well.

    “See, I told you he had a rabbit,” he said.

    When the lion saw it, he gave such a terrific loud roar that the rabbit nearly fell into the well with fright. The roar echoed back in the well which he thought was the other lion roaring back at him.

   “Look! The other lion wants to fight you,” said the rabbit, pepping the lion up.

   This made the lion angrier than ever.

    “You say here,” he said, “I’m going to fight that lion. Don’t go away. I’ll be back just now with that rabbit. Slurp! I’m going to have feast tonight!”

    The rabbit agreed solemnly and the lion jumped into the well. Splash! But, what’s this? All he could see was water everywhere. He could see neither the lion nor the rabbit that he had seen from the top of the well. He began to drown, because he couldn’t swim.

    “Help! Help!” he cried, “I’m drowning! I can’t swim! Get me out of here! Help! Help!”

    The rabbit was still sitting on the wall of the well and when he heard the lion shouting for help he began to laugh loudly.

    “Goodbye!” said the rabbit. “Enjoy your swim.”

    With that he jumped down from the well wall and ran away as fast as he could.