The Kingdom of the Lion

The beasts of the field and forest once had a lion for their king. He was not, as some fierce rulers are, always wrathful or cruel. He wished to be known as just and gentle, and when he sat upon a broad stone in the sunlight, his mane shining about him, many animals hoped that quieter days had come.

Soon after his reign began, the lion called a great assembly. Birds settled in the branches, deer stood near the grass, and the stronger beasts came out from the shade. The wolf, the panther, the tiger, the dog, the lamb, the kid, the stag, and the hare were all there to hear the proclamation.

The lion declared that a universal league of peace should be made. The wolf and the lamb were to live together in friendship. The panther and the kid, the tiger and the stag, the dog and the hare, should no longer be enemies. The strong were to put away their violence, and the weak were to take their places in safety beside them.

The words sounded noble, like a fresh wind through the trees. Some of the animals looked at one another with hope, and some with doubt. At the edge of the gathering stood the hare, his ears lifted high. “Oh,” said he, “how I have longed to see this day, when the weak may stand unharmed beside the strong!”

And after saying this, the hare ran for his life.

The other creatures watched him vanish into the grass. His flight said what his words had not. A proclamation may be splendid, but peace is not made real by speeches alone. Until the strong have shown that their claws are truly still, the weak may be wise to keep a path of escape.