English Story - The
king of the forest
Many years ago, so
long ago that no one knows exactly when a lion lived in a cave in the
forest. He was very strong and fierce, with pointed claws and teeth as sharp as
knives. All the animal living in the forest were afraid of him.
He was lazy and did
nothing every day except eat and sleep. Mr. Peacock swept the floor of his cave
with
his long tail, so that he could have
a clean bed to sleep on. While he slept, Mr. Mouse stroked and massaged his
body. When he opened his mouth to yamn, Mr. Mouse would jump in to clean and
polish his teeth.
Mr. Porcupine was the
lion’s chief assistant. He was a brave and hard worker. He never tired of
obeying the lion’s orders.
“I’m feeling hungry.”
The lion told him one day. “Go and catch a goat for me.”
Mr. Porcupine went and
asked Mr. Tiger to help him. Mr. Tiger stretched himself. “Ah well,” he said.
“If the King of the forest wants a goat for dinner, I’ll have to catch one for
him.” He caught a goat and carried it back to the lion’s cave. “Thank’s, Mr.
Tiger,” said the lion. “I’m very grateful to you for such a tasty meal.”
As soon as all the
other animals in the forest heard that Mr. Tiger was hunting food for the lion.
They hid themselves in the forest..
After a day or so, the
lion felt hungry again. “Tell Mr. Tiger to catch a deer for me,” he ordered Mr.
Porcupine. Mr. Porcupine did as he was told. However, although Mr. tiger
searched everywhere, he was unable to find a single animal.
Finally, he had to
tell the king of the forest that he had not been successful.
“What!” roared the lion.
“The forest is full of animals, who are all my subjects. Order all of them to
come to my cave at once.”
Mr. Tiger kept quit.
He did not know what to do.
He returned to the
forest to continue his search. At the end of the day. He felt tired and fell
asleep.
When he awoke, he saw
Mr. Mousedeer passing by.
“Where are all the
other animals?” he asked.
“They’re hiding in the
forest,” replied Mr. Mousedeer.
“Can you show me where
they are?”
“Why do you want to
know?”
“The king of the
forest’s hungry,” replied Mr. Tiger
“All right,” said Mr.
Mousedeer. “Come with me.”
He took Mr. Tiger with
him to meet the other animals.
None of them wanted to
go and see the lion. In the end, they decided to draw lots to see who should
go.
Mr. Mousedeer was the
unlucky one who was chosen. All his friends felt sorry for him because they
knew what would happen to him.
Mr. Mousedeer followed
Mr. Tiger back to the lion’s cave.
“Who have you
brought?” roared the lion. Who was very hungry by this time.
“It’s Mr. Mousedeer,
Your majesty.” Answered Mr. Tiger.
“There’s not much
flesh on him,” said the lion.
“Your Majesty, he was
the best I could find.”
“O King of the
forest,” said Mr. Mousedeer. “I’ve brought a message for you from your
brother.”
“From my brother?”
asked the lion. “I don’t have a brother,”
“But he told me to
tell you that he has forbidden all the other animals to come and see you,”
The lion shouted in
anger, “Ho, ho, ho! We shall see about that. Take me to see him straight away.”
Mr. Mousedeer led him
into the forest. He pointed into a deep hole which had been dug in the ground
by a hunter. The lion jumped into it but was unable to climb out. All the animals
came running out of the forest and dance happily round the hole.
“Thank you very much
Mr. Mousedeer,” they cried. “You’ve saved our lives. Now, we shan’t have to
worry about the King of the Forest any more, and we can live happily ever
after.”
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