20 The Lion and the Elephant

20. THE LION AND THE

ELEPHANT

By Jan Payne

It was nearly morning and the Lion

had just gone to bed.

He pulled the grass duvet over his

head and closed his eyes.

He was just about to fall asleep

when a noise sounded across the

plain.

‘COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!’

It was the Cockerel crowing.

‘COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!’

The Lion put his paws over his

ears.

‘Go away,’ he cried, ‘go away!’

But the Cockerel didn’t want to go

away. He wanted to tell the world

what a beautiful morning it was.

The Lion kept his head under the

duvet.

‘That noise is driving me mad,’ he

said. It was the same every morn

ing. The sun came up and the

Cockerel crowed. And each time he

heard it the Lion hated it more. It

made him feel afraid.

‘Why is it,’ he asked himself, ‘that

someone like me, who is brave and

strong and fearless should be afraid

of the sound of a harmless cockerel?’

He decided to talk to the other

animals.

‘Monkeys,’ he asked, ‘does the

sound of the Cockerel make you

feel afraid?’

‘No,’ said the monkeys together.

‘We’re not afraid of anything.’

‘Hippopotamus,’ asked the Lion,

‘you are big and strong like me. Is

there anything that frightens you?’

The hippopotamus was bathing in

the river. He blew a stream of

bubbles out of his nose.

‘Nothing frightens me,’ he said.

‘Not even the sound of a cockerel

crowing.’

1‘Especially not the sound of a

cockerel crowing.’

Ashamed of his weakness the Lion

turned away. A crocodile was

sunbathing near by.

‘Are you afraid of anything, Croco

dile?’ the Lion asked.

The crocodile thought for a

moment.

‘Jam sandwiches!’ he answered.

The Lion thought this was a strange

thing for the crocodile to be afraid

about, but he didn’t argue.

Just then an elephant lumbered out

of the forest.

‘If anyone can answer my question,

he can,’ thought the Lion.

‘Elephant, can I speak to you?’ he

asked.

‘Not today, Lion,’ said the Elephant,

shaking his head. ‘I have a prob

lem.’

‘Is it a serious problem?’ asked the

Lion.

‘It is to me,’ said the Elephant. And

he shook his head so hard the Lion

thought the elephant’s ears would

come off.

‘I’ve got a serious problem too,’

said the Lion.

‘Well, you tell me your serious

problem and I’ll tell you mine,’ said

the Elephant.

So the Lion told the Elephant all

about how afraid he was of the

crowing of the cock.

‘I sympathise with you, Lion,’ said

the Elephant. And he gave his head

another massive shake.

‘Do you see a small insect buzzing

around?’ he continued.

The Lion could just make out a gnat

near the Elephant’s head.

‘If that insect flies inside my ears,’

continued the Elephant, ‘I am

positive I am done for.’

‘You mean you are afraid of a tiny

gnat?’ queried the Lion.

‘Yes,’ said the Elephant.

2The Lion thought about this for a

minute. It was hard to believe that

such a strong, wise and clever

animal could be afraid of so small a

thing.

Now the Lion felt sorry for the

Elephant.

‘Your fear is worse than mine,’ he

told him. ‘I am sorry now I troubled

you at all.’

‘I’m glad you did,’ said the Elephant.

The next morning when the Cock

crowed the Lion turned over in bed

and went back to sleep.

‘It’s just a noise,’ he told himself, ‘it

can’t possibly hurt me.’

And he was right.

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