The
Lion and The Tiger King
One
morning the tiger woke up in the jungle and told his mate that he was king of
beasts.
"Leo,
the lion, is king of beasts," she said.
"We
need a change," said the tiger. "The creatures are crying for a
change."
The
tigress listened but she could hear no crying, except that of her cubs.
"I'll
be king of beasts night when the moon rises," said the tiger. "It
will be a yellow moon with black stripes, in my honour."
"Oh
sure," said the tigress as she went to look after her young, one of whom,
a male, looked like his father, had got an imaginary thorn in his paw.
The
tiger prowled through the jungle till he came to the lion's den. "Come
out," he roared," and greet the king of beasts! The king is dead,
long live the king!"
Inside
the den, the lioness woke her mate. "The king is here to see you,"
she said.
"What.
King?" he inquired, sleepily.
"The
king of beasts," she said.
"I
am the king of beasts," roared Leo and he charged out of the den to defend
his crown against the pretender.
It
was a terrible fight and it lasted until the setting of the sun. All of the
animals in the jungle joined in. Some supported the side of the tiger and
others the lion. Every creatures from the aardvark to the zebra took part in
the struggle to overthrow the lion or to repulse the tiger, but some did not
knot know which they were fighting for. Some fought for both, and some fought anyone
who was near them and some fought for the sake of fighting.
"What
are we fighting for?" someone asked the aardvark.
"The
old order," said the aardvark.
"What
are we dying for?" someone asked the zebra.
"The
new order," said the zebra.
When
the moon rose, fevered and gibbous, it shone upon a jungle in which nothing
stirred except a macaw and a cockatoo, screaming in horror. All the beasts were
dead except the tiger. He was getting order and his time was ticking away. He
was the monarch of all he surveyed, but it didn't seem to mean anything.
