Always a King

The mightiest of all in the animal kingdom, the lion, "king of the jungle" . . . he lay there at the mouth of his home, a mighty cave, dying from sickness. Even though the king was dying he still remained at the place he worked so hard for. Animals from far and wide showed up to witness their king dying and as some show respect from fear, others take out frustration and revenge on the lion. Boars rammed him with their tusks, bulls attacked with horns, eagles with claws. The lion just lay there, taking the punishment as he did not have the strength to take them on. Finally, a mule came from the back of the crowd, one of the least respected animals in the kingdom, to take his turn on the dying lion. As the mule turned to kick the lion with his hind feet, the lion growled and said “This will be a double death,” and he sprang to his feet, grabbed the shocked mule by the neck with his powerful jaws and slammed him back down to the ground, much to the mule's surprise!

Although the king could hardly move during the initial onslaught of attacks from his subjects, he took the mule to be the most disrespectful. In the king's eyes the mule was the most cowardly of all of his subjects. Why would he wait until the last moment to strike the dying king if he had any heart at all? Disrespect was not going to be how the king took his last breath, especially from the mule, the coward that he was. As the battle between the dying king and cowardly mule began, the king could feel the power and ferocity ignite for even just a few brief moments. The lion felt like he was in his prime taking on his foe, even if it was only a mule. The injuries throughout the past years had finally taken their toll on the king and with old age wounds do not heal like before and a deathly infection in an old wound had finally bested the king. In the king's mind this was the fiercest opponent he ever faced during his reign over the kingdom. Bigger and faster than any challengers to his throne, the mule would suffer unlike any had before him. This was destiny, this was personal.

The crowd of the lion’s subjects just sat in silence and watched as they could see the life leaving the lion's glorious eyes as the mule took its last breath and lay lifeless in the mighty jaws of its king. The king of the jungle released the mule and let out one more mighty roar, reminding the jungle that even in his dying moments, you must still respect a king. There is a difference between respect and cowards. The lion had respect for the animals that attacked him before the mule. As for the mule, the lion believed him to be a coward, as he would run and hide every time the lion would come around. As he was the king of the jungle, he would not let a coward have the satisfaction of besting him, even in his final moments of life.

Author's Note. The original story was a lot shorter and just included the boar, bull and ass attacking the lion to settle grudges. The lion did growl "This will be a double death" but that is where the original ends. Visualizing the animals attacking such a mighty beast and it lying there helplessly struck something with me. In my mind I was envisioning myself as the lion and what I would do to that type of insult and to what example should be made of the mule. How would I feel that such a cowardly animal would wait until after all of my other subjects? What makes him deserve the killing blow? Absolutely nothing, so in my mind it would be more than just a regular battle. It would be my final battle. I would show why I was the king and why I stood to so many challengers to my throne and overcame each one. It would be one thing to have the lion trying to fight off all of the animals who attacked him but I do not think it would be as meaningful when the mule finally goes for its turn. Going out with something to be remembered by is the way I would want to go.

Bibliography. This story is based on the Fable "The Sick Lion" in The Fables, by Aesop, Jacobs, Joseph.