The Clever Rabbit and the Hungry Lion

Once upon a time, far away in a vast, dry savannah, there lived a very powerful lion. For years this lion had terrorized the poor creatures of the grassy plains.

Of course, he had made himself king, and no one dared argue with him. He was too big and too strong to argue with. When he got hungry, he simply hunted in the tall grasses and ate as many animals as he could find.

Because he was so scary and so hungry all the time, everyone lived in fear that one day he would pass by them and have the idea that they looked tasty enough to be his next lunch. Or his dinner. Or even his brunch! The rumble of his belly was just as frightening as his terrible roar.

One day, the animals had a meeting and decided to suggest an agreement between them and their cruel ruler. The zebra, the eland antelope, the giraffe and the Cape buffalo all went together to the lion’s den to talk to him. Cautiously, the zebra knocked on the opening of the lion’s den with her delicate hoof and waited. Her heart was pounding in fear.

The lion had been napping, and he wasn’t very happy to be woken up. He blinked drowsily and slowly walked out. In front of him, he saw four very tasty looking animals. He licked his black lips and started to drool.

“Looks like lunch came to me, today!” he thought. He licked his lips again and swished his tail, getting ready to pounce, but then his lunch spoke to him:

“M-m-mighty ruler,” the buffalo stammered fearfully. “We would like to make a deal with you. You kill so many of us every day, but surely you can’t be that hungry and greedy!…