Week 2 Story: The Lion, The Little Boy, and The Turtle

Once upon a time, there was a little boy who was walking along a river in search of colorful pebbles that he had been collecting for almost 2 years. Along the way, he heard a noise that kept getting louder and louder with every few steps he took and then a scream of “HELP!” got his attention. Intrigued by the desperate calling, he decided to venture into the jungle and figure out what it was that was begging for help. Pushing his way deeper and deeper into the brush and trees, he came upon a huge lion that was trapped in a cage.

“Little boy, little boy please let me out of this cage!” pleaded the lion.

“I’m sorry, I wish I could help you but… you are a huge lion and king of the jungle. How long have you been in there?” asked the little boy.

The lion, furious and impatient, tried to answer the question the nicest way possible to not scare him away and replied, “Far too long my little friend, I beg you to let me out of this cage.”

“Well that means you’re probably hungry and I have heard stories about you lions having ate humans before” assumed the little boy.

“Just as you said I am king of this entire jungle and if you let me go I promise to not eat you, and will offer my protection for your entire village, as I know you guys are having problems with the enemy” said the lion.

The little boy knew about the troubles his village was having with the enemy and was convince with the offering of the lion. He unlocked the cage and the lion quickly grabbed the little boy and said to him while laughing, “How clueless you are! I am king and I offer nothing to nobody! You will be a great dinner tonight.”

“Please oh lion, please do not eat me and let the judgment of others decide my fate! I will ask the first two things I see of what justice I deserve!” cried the little boy.

The lion knew that after telling the story to the others, they would not side with the little boy, as they would be afraid of contradicting the lion’s verdict. So the lion gave the boy an hour to get his answers.

First the little boy came upon a worm and after explaining his situation the worm responded “What a fool you are little boy! You humans use my species as an object and stab us with sharp hooks to get food for yourselves! Go on and be happy you have lived your life well fed above ground”.

Desperate for a different answer the little boy asked an old turtle that was strolling along near the river. “Did you say a lion is trying to eat you? My years of hearing are done little boy I can hardly understand what you are saying so pick me up and take me to that lion” said the old turtle.

“My king how great it is to finally see you I am the old wise turtle that helped cure your little cub not too long ago”.

“Ah yes wise turtle I never had the chance to thank you for that favor” said the lion.

“Do not worry my King, this little boy was telling me about the situation but I am old and my hearing is almost gone. Would you please replay the whole scenario to see what exactly is going on” asked the old turtle. The turtle knew beforehand that the lion was not very smart so before they got to the lion, they made a deal where he would help the boy if he took him across the river.

The lion was a bit skeptical but thought the turtle was of trust and replied, “Sure I guess I could do that for you wise old turtle” and he started to walk to the cage explaining what had happened.

“So you were inside of the cage how could you not get out my king? The door is still open, I’m sure you are not that dumb” said the old turtle.

Offended by the question the lion shut the door and tried explaining how it was when the little boy first saw him. “This is how it all started..”

“And this is how it will never start again” replied the old turtle.

(Male Lion in a Zoo: Flickr)

Authors Notes:

The original story was about a tiger being trapped in a cage when a Brahman discovered it there. The tiger tricks the Brahman into letting him out of the cage and quickly grabs him to eat him. The Brahman pleads for a resolution where he asks three questions to the first things he sees to see what kind of justice they think he deserves. After asking the road and a tree, he tells the story to a jackal who is ultimately the one who helps him. He tricks the tiger into getting back into the cage by asking foolish questions that end up aggravating the tiger. My version of the story is basically the same except the characters are different. In my story the tiger is a lion, the Brahman is the little boy, and the jackal is the old turtle. I enjoyed the original story very much and that is why I decided to write about this story. 

Bibliography:

"The Tiger, The Brahman, and The Jackal" from Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs. Web Source.