The Clever Hare and the Proud Lion

Deep in a green forest lived a lion named Bhāsuraka. He was strong and he was proud, and worst of all, he was greedy. Every day he hunted, not just when he was hungry, but whenever he felt like it. Deer, rabbits, wild boars, buffaloes: no one was safe.

Soon the animals were so frightened that they hardly dared to come out to eat or drink.

So one morning, they gathered their courage and went to the lion together.

“Your Majesty,” said the oldest deer, bowing low, “if you keep hunting like this, soon there will be no animals left, and then you will go hungry too. Here is our promise: every day, one of us will come to your den. You’ll never need to hunt again. Only please, leave the rest of us in peace.”

The lion thought about it. Dinner delivered to his door every day? He licked his whiskers. “Very well,” he rumbled. “But if anyone is ever late, I’ll eat all of you!”

And so it went, day after day. It was a sad time in the forest.

Then one day, it was the turn of a little hare. He was the smallest animal in the whole forest. His ears trembled. But as he hopped along the path, he began to think.

“Every animal who goes to that lion never comes back. Crying won’t help me. Running won’t help me. But maybe… thinking will.”

So he did something very strange. He walked slowly. He nibbled some clover. He sat in the sun. He watched a beetle climb a leaf. And by the time he reached the lion’s den, the sun was setting.

The lion was pacing up and down, his tail lashing. “YOU!” he roared. “You are tiny, AND you are late! I’m so hungry I could eat the whole forest!”

The little hare bowed very low. “Please forgive me, Your Majesty. It isn’t my fault. This morning the animals sent five hares to you, knowing one alone was too small for a great king. But on the way, another lion jumped out and stopped us. He ate the other four! I only escaped by promising to bring you a message.”

“Another lion?” The lion’s mane bristled. “In my forest? What message?”

The hare’s voice shook, just a little. “He said, ‘Tell that old lion that I am the true king of this forest now.’”

The lion let out a roar that shook the leaves off the trees. “Take me to him. Now!”

The hare led him through the trees, across a meadow, to an old stone well, deep and full of still, dark water.

“He lives down there, Your Majesty,” whispered the hare. “In his fortress.”

The lion leaned over the edge and looked down. And there, glaring back up at him, was a great angry lion with a huge mane and sharp teeth.

The lion roared. From deep in the well, a roar came back, even louder, echoing off the stone.

That was too much for the proud lion. With a mighty leap, he jumped into the well to fight his enemy. SPLASH!

Of course, there was no other lion, only his own reflection. And that was the end of the bully of the forest.

The little hare raced home with the news. That night, for the first time in a very long time, every animal in the forest slept peacefully, all thanks to the smallest one of them all, who chose to think when he could have panicked.

The end.