His mother stopped in her steps and let out a sigh, "That, my child, is an example. He was once the leader of my mother's pride, but now he is no more than a shade of who he was."
At this, she started away again. The cub broke sight of the old lion to turn and follow his mother. The sun beat down bright on his head. "If he is shade, then why is he not dark?" he asked as they continued their walk back to their den.
"No child," his mother chuckled lightly, "Not shade like that from a tree, but more like a ghost. He was great and powerful, once. We all feared his wrath. When he was hungry, he ate. When he was angry, he slew. And he was tired of killing and eating, he slept. He always got what he wanted."
The child stopped to turn around as his mother bent down to lap up some water from a stream. His eyes scanned the area until the figure came into sight from down stream. The child now saw that he was skinny, practically a walking skeleton. "Mother, how did the ghost die?" He asked.
"He isn't dead, yet. Or at least his heart still beats. A long time ago," She started as she sipped her final bit of water, "he was so head strong and passionate, he believed he deserved all that he desired. No lion dare deny him. Humans though, they are different."
"Different? How"
"They are sneakier and less concerned with honor. He was deceived by them."
"Did they trap him with their nets or pierce him with one of their darts?" The child asked fearfully.
"No, they used his own foolish heart to bring him down. One day he was prowling the roads, looking for a human to eat, as he was known to do. When he stumbled upon a humaness."
"A humaness? Are they like the one's that come with nets?" The child interrupt with curiosity and fear in his voice.
"Less hairy, and fairer typically." She replied, "Now, this humaness was beautiful even for a human. That old lion was smitten, and desired her beauty for himself. He demanded that she wed him, and join him with his other wives. She told him that she could not marry without her parents blessing. He begrudgingly followed her home to confront her family. He intended to intimidate them for permission. But they protested, 'For she is fair and gentle. We fear your stupendous claws may tear her skin and kill her. For her sake, would you remove them? Then you may wed her.'"
"He was displeased," The mother continued, "but he wanted the woman so greatly, that in the moment he did not think it that great a price to pay. So he allowed them to cut his claws. 'Now give me your daughter so I may wed her!' He growled. They again argued, 'We are worried that when you kiss her, your impressive fangs may harm her. If you cannot kiss her, how can you marry her?'"
"Again the lion was unsatisfied by their answer, but he understood the dilemma. 'Very well, you may remove my fangs. But you must let me marry her afterward!' So his teeth were pulled from his mouth. Before he could carry away his fiancé, her parents yet again protested. 'You are so mighty and large! If you go to embrace her, you might break her bones! How can we allow such a union? Perhaps if you lost some weight, we could consider it.'"
"'Alright.' The lion agreed, 'Then she will be mine or I shall devour you!' So he fasted for 3 months, eating only grubs that he found in the dirt. Finally, after that time had come to pass, he had become skinny and weak. 'I will marry your daughter now. Give her to me!' He demanded of her parents. But they laughed at him, 'Why would we grant a creature so pitiful as you to marry our daughter?' they chuckled. 'I am the king of beasts! Not to mention you promised me her hand!' he cried out in anger. 'We promised our daughter to a powerful beast with fangs and claws. You are no more than a common house cat!' and he went away in shame."
The mother began to walk toward the den where the rest of the pride lay. Her child followed closely behind. "You see child, when you let your passion and desires blind you, you lose whatever power you had. If you cannot rule your own heart, you cannot rule at all."
The child turned to take a final look behind. He caught a glimpse of the old lion digging at the dirt with his skeletal paw, bend down, and eat a grub that he unearthed. The cub turned his back to the old lion and went to join the rest of his family.
Author's Notes: This story is derived from a traditional story from The Fables of Aesop by Joseph Jacobs, in which a lion falls in love with a woman and is tricked into removed his fangs and claws. I felt the original story ended a bit too abruptly, and wanted to expand on what happened to the lion afterward. Furthermore, I wanted to frame him as more of a selfish character so the story didn't seem quite so brutal. The original lesson was that love can tame the wild, but I wanted to take it in more of a 'following your heart won't always work out well' direction. I also added in the detail of the family asking the lion to lose some weight because even though a lion may be toothless and clawless, he could still just sit on you and kill you. It's written as a story being told by a mother lioness to her cub, which I found to be more thematically interesting than just a narrator talking.
Bibliography: "The Lion in Love" from The Fables of Aesop by Joseph Jacob. Web Source
Image: A mother and her son; Credit goes to Tambako the Jaguar on Flickr; Source: Flickr
