There he met a wolf, who, seeing the lion run, asked him why he was running.
“If your life is dear to you,” he replied, “do not stop here talking, for that terrible beast which I have seen yonder in the field is sure to overtake us, and then good-bye to us.”
“What beast?” asked the wolf. “I know no beast that could frighten a lion.”
“Well, then, thank God that you have never come across it.”
“How does it look?”
“It is a huge beast with a head so big as I have never seen a head before, and a mouth so large that it could devour us in one bite. As to its skin, I have never yet seen any like it, all red with stripes and patches of every colour. It stands on huge feet, and whenever it walks it scatters fire right and left.”
“That may all be as you describe it,” said the wolf, “but still it might also be otherwise. I should like to see it myself, and I might perhaps know what it is.”
“Very well then, let us go higher up the hill, where we can look down on the field.”
“I would rather see it from here, if possible, near at hand.”
“As you please. I will squat down on my hind-legs and lift you up with my fore-legs, so that you can see some distance from here.”