Once upon a time, there lived a talking lion.
This lion was quite unlike other lions - 
he really enjoyed having dinner with humans 
(as opposed to having humans for dinner...)
One of the things he loved to do while having dinner
was to tell jokes that made people laugh until their stomachs hurt.

In the jungle where the lion lived was a little village.
The people there lived in constant fear because of the
ferocious animals that came to attack them.
When the lion saw the sad and frightened looking villagers,
he decided that he would cheer them up by inviting them to dinner
and then telling them jokes.  

However, every time he walked into the village,
the people would run away from him, 
thinking that he was going to eat them - 
after all, that was what the other animals always did.

When the lion tried to speak to the villagers, 
the only thing they noticed when he opened his mouth 
were all the sharp and dangerous looking teeth inside.  
The people were too terrified to notice anything he said.
This made the lion very sad -
He had so many interesting stories to tell
(and he could also cook quite well too!) 
but the people always ran away when they saw him...  

'If only I could tell the villagers 
that they have nothing to be afraid of...'  
the lion thought to himself.

One day, he saw a villager lying unconscious on the ground, 
bleeding after an attack by some ferocious wild animals. 
He sniffed at the body and realised that the man was still alive!  
So, he picked him up with his mouth 
and brought him home to look after him.
  
After a while, the man regained consciousness.
But when he saw the lion, he almost fainted again.  

The lion said,
'Don't be afraid!'
'If I wanted to eat you I would have already done so by now.'

The man was too terrified to say a word.  
However, he realised that what the lion had said was true.  
So he stopped being frightened.

The man was very hungry because he had not eaten for several days.
Then he noticed the smell of delicious food coming from the kitchen.
The lion helped the man to the table where they enjoyed a very
delicious meal.  
The lion told so many jokes and made the man laugh so hard 
that he forgot all the pain from the injuries he had suffered.



After many days, the man was well enough to return home,
He ran to tell all the other villagers that they did not
need to be afraid of the lion because he was their friend.
However, no one believed what he was saying.

'Who ever heard of a talking lion?' they sneered at him. 
'Besides everyone knows that the lions eat people up' they continued.
'A friendly lion?!!'  they exclaimed
'A lion who cooks?!!!' the people were incredulous with unbelief.

'No, no!  You are all wrong!' the man replied.
'The lion came and helped me when I was hurt' he continued
'Come with me and I'll show you,'  he pleaded.
'He fed me and told me jokes and made me laugh.'

'You must be joking!' they said and they went on with their own business.

The man was sad that no one would listen to him.
But he continued to visit the lion everyday.  
He was well fed, and enjoyed all the stories the lion told.  
Also, none of the other animals in the jungle dared to attack him 
while he stayed with the lion.
Every so often, he would think of his friends in the village who
were living in fear everyday and he wished that they could be with him.
Each time he thought that way, he would run back to the village 
and try to convince them to come with him.  
But they always refused to listen to him.

Finally, the lion had an idea.  
'The villagers are all afraid of me because I look so fierce and terrifying.  
'Perhaps if I could disguise myself as a man - 
maybe they would stop running away from me,' the lion spoke aloud.
'I know, I'll invite them for tea!' said the lion.
The man was so excited with what the lion said that he ran back
to the village to tell his friends that the lion was coming to visit.

However, the people had other ideas.
'We have always lived in fear of the other animals.'
'Now we hear that the lion, the king of the jungle is coming to visit us.'
'If we can kill the lion, then maybe the other animals would be so
afraid of us that they would stop attacking us!'  they thought.

The man was horrified when he heard what they were going to do.
'Stop!  You can't do that!' he yelled.
'He's a friendly lion!'

But the other villagers tied him up and covered his mouth 
so that the man could not make a sound to warn the lion. 
Then the villagers went off to sharpen their spears.

When the lion arrived at the village, he found himself surrounded.






Before the lion could say a word, the villagers rushed and attacked him.
The lion wanted to run away, but he could not find a way through the
wall of villagers. He roared loudly to try and scare the villagers away, 
but this made the people even more angry as they charged with their spears.
The lion did not want to use his claws or his sharp teeth
to hurt any of the people.  After all, he was a decent lion.

The lion was stabbed many times and he was badly wounded. 
Slowly, he felt his strength draining away.  
Finally, he sighed, and then lay down, dead.

The villagers seeing him fall down at last gave a loud cry of triumph.
'We've won!' they said.
'Now the other animals will have to fear us!' they exulted.

However, the creatures of the jungle on hearing that the lion
was dead leapt out from their dark hiding places.
And they started attacking the villagers!

For many years, the other animals did not attack the villagers
because they were afraid of the lion who stayed near by.  
Now, there was no one to restrain them, so they attacked with boldness,
killing the villagers and eating them. 
The village was a scene of destruction and suffering.
There was no one was left alive.

The bodies of the villagers were scattered on the ground.
Near the centre of the village lay the body of the lion.
As the wind blew, the bag the lion brought with him
fell open and pieces of paper inside it were scattered to the ground.

But there was no one there to read the hand printed
invitations to tea that the lion wrote.

And the box of chocolates the lion brought with him
melted in the noonday sun.



						Jonathan Koh
						March 1997