The Offended Lion

Once upon a time there was a great animal kingdom. It spread over a huge area and many thousands of animals lived there. As in any proper kingdom, it was ruled over by a king. And as everyone knows, the king of all animals is the mighty lion. The lion king commanded respect and reverence among his subjects, but there was one happy little bunny who loved nothing better than constantly making fun of the king.

He made fun of him so much and often that one day, a fox who had been trying to win the king’s favour for a long time, decided to tell on him. “Have you heard about the bunny who’s always making fun of you?” the fox asked the lion. “How dare he?!” exclaimed the angry and humiliated king. He roared a huge, loud roar to demonstrate his strength and stature. Then, immediately, he sent for the bunny and had him paraded before the royal court. The bunny was shaking all over with fear and could not make a sound.

The king asked all his advisers what punishment they would impose for an offender who had brazenly mocked their ruler. The first to speak up was the wolf. “Death by drowning,” he said uncompromisingly, for he believed the bunny deserved to die for what he had done.

The bear disagreed with the wolf. “In my opinion,” he protested, “death is too cruel a punishment. The offending subject should be banished from this kingdom, and all his family with him.”

One by one, all the animals that the lion king had invited to advise him took turns to help him determine an appropriate punishment for the bunny.

As he listened to them, the lion looked at the poor bunny, who was…