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 yawn, 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 foreest 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.”
Moral
value:
Ingenuity will
overcome evil
Difficult
words:
1.
Yawn : Menguap
2.
Pointed claws : Cakar runcing
3.
Chief : Kepala
4.
Carried : Dilakukan
5.
Themselves : Diri
6.
Hiding : Persembunyian
7.
Dug : Digali
Okay.... I can add the moral value " Don't ever underestimate others cz next time you will get the reverse"
BalasHapus