CAT, LION AND MAN

A  cat went out for a walk on the mountain. All at once she saw a lion in her path. She moved to one side, and waited to see what the lion would do. The lion came up to her, smelled her, and then said to her, “You appear to be of our kind, but you are very small.”

                And the cat answered, “You’d be, too, if you had to live with man.”

                “How’s that?” asked the lion. “What is Man? Is he so big and powerful? Where is he? I want to see him.”

                To this the cat said, “Come with me, and I’ll show him to you.”

                The lion agreed; so off they went. As they walked along the mountain path, they saw a man cutting wood.

                The cat said to the lion, “There he is. That’s Man.”

                They moved closer. The lion wished the man good day, and said, “Are you Man?”

                “I am,” said the man.

                “I have heard that you’re very strong; so I’ve come to fight.”

                “Let’s fight. But first help me cut this wood, I’ve already done half and then we’ll fight.

                “I will do that.”

                “As you’re so helpful, put your paws in here, where it’s cut, and I’ll finish it off.”

                The lion put in his paws, and the man let go, first one side of the wood that he had been holding, and then the other side, so that the lion’s paws were caught in the wood. Then the man picked up a thick stick and began to hit the lion till he was half dead.

                Then the man pulled the wood into tow, and freed the paws of the lion, who was almost dead by now. The man lifted the wood on his back, picked up his axe, and went off home.

                When the man had gone, the cat, who had been hiding, came out, went up to the lion, and asked him, :And what did you think of Man?”

                “Well,” the lion answered, “if I were in your shoes, I’d make myself smaller still!”

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GATHERED FROM MY OLD TEXT BOOK