Once there was a very Old Lion who was too old to hunt food, as he had in his younger days. It was winter, and he found himself becoming sick. Knowing he would surely die without food to help him combat his illness, the Old Lion invited all his neighbors to come to his cave and talk to him. One by one they went, and one by one they disappeared.
The Fox was very wary of the Old Lion, and he refused to get to close to his cave when he went to visit. “Come closer,” said the Old Lion, “I can’t hear you from there.” But the Fox refused, not wanting to disappear like all of the other animals. He returned back to his home, and tried to wait out the winter. Colder and colder it grew, until finally the Fox was stuck in the freezing cold all the time. He grew sicker and sicker.
One day, knowing he would soon die, the Fox went back to visit the Old Lion. To his shock, the Old Lion was no longer sick. In fact, he looked healthier than ever. “How have you recovered?!” exclaimed the Fox, “you are so old and I am young!” “Who is that out there?” the Fox heard from behind the Old Lion, inside the cave. Suddenly, the pink face of his neighbor Pig popped out of the cave, followed by the dusky face of Raccoon, whom he used to share food with.
“There you are Fox!” shouted Raccoon, “we were afraid you had died, why didn’t you come into the warmth with us?” “You mean the Old Lion didn’t eat you?” replied Fox. Pig looked confused, “Of course not! He offered all our neighbors the chance to share the warmth of his cave in exchange for bringing him food. We’ve all been doing great.” Then, finally, the shock of seeing his friends alive and the depth of sickness was too much, and with one final sigh, Fox died.
Strife can bring together strange friends.
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| The Fox and the Old Lion |
Author's Note: In the original version of this fable, the Old Lion actually is eating all of the neighbors, and the lesson is to take warning from the bad things that occur to other people. The Fox sees footprints going into the cave but not coming out, and comes to the conclusion that misfortune has occurred for his neighbors. He's right, because the Old Lion has been eating all of the neighbors. I wanted to mix things up by actually making him appear paranoid instead of showing common sense. Instead of having the Old Lion eat the neighbors, he had been letting them into his home all along in exchange for collecting food. This story is part of series of stories involving the Old Lion, who previously had actually been a younger Lion going through other experiences. I think it's interesting because the Lion is sort of gaining in cunning throughout the stories, so this is the culmination of all that. I chose the image above because I thought it was kind of amusing. It makes me think of the Fox outsmarting the Old Lion and sort of sticking out his tongue at him. It doesn't fit my story quite right but I think it fits the original one very well.
Bibliography: Aesop for Children, by (anonymous), illustrated by Milo Winter (1919)
Image Information: http://mythfolklore.net/aesopica/milowinter/55.htm
Sneaky Lion! You twisted that around on me quick! I LOVED the idea that he was hanging out with them all that time in the warm, his belly full, instead of eating them. It’s kind of ironic how you had the Fox die at the end. The story flowed really well. I was a little disappointed it wasn’t longer. I want to know what all the animals had been up to for all that time :)
ReplyDeleteI think you had a great translation of the story. However, I think that you could have added more detail to the story to add to it. While the story itself was a great story, it was very similar to the fable. If you had maybe expanded upon the characters or made the characters different people or something along those lines, it would have made the story all the much better. I think also if you had maybe added some human qualities to the animals, such as giving them names, or adding traits about their personalities would also have added more to the story. I know that some of these comments you may not agree with, but these are comments that I think would help your story become even a better story. Then you can also use my specific comments as inspiration for other ideas that would help your stories become even better.
ReplyDeleteI think this was a great story! I liked the idea of the lion being friends with everyone, and that you didn't use the stereotypical "blood thirsty" characteristic of lions. As Tom said, I think it gives the story a much lighter mood, and it also gives the story a nice happy ending. The image you included in the story was perfect as well! Great job!
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