The Lion and the Boar
Once upon a time there was a Lion who lived in the mountains, and he used to drink water out of a beautiful lake. It so happened that, as he was drinking there one day, he saw a Boar feeding over on the opposite bank. Now he had just eaten a leg of elephant, and was not hungry; but he made a note of that Boar, thinking to himself what a nice meal the Boar would make some other day. So, after drinking his fill, he crawled quietly away through the bushes, hoping that the Boar could not see him. But the Boar had sharp eyes, and did see him. “Hullo!” said he to himself, “yon Lion is afraid of me, that’s clear! Ah well, he need not think to get off so easy. If he wants to go, he must fight me first!” He puffed his chest out very big, and rubbed his tusks against a tree, then he called out:
“Stay, stay, runaway!
Let us have a fight to-day!
You have four feet, so have I!
If you fail, you can but try!”
The Lion could hardly believe his ears. What! a Boar challenge him to fight! He could break a Boar’s back with a tap of his paw. Still, he hid his astonishment at this impertinent Boar and only said: