The story of the monkey and the lion’s breath is a classic Aesop’s tale. This tale begins with a lion. Th e lion was a self-proclaimed king. He announced that he was the king and he would rule over all of the jungle.
Having declared himself as the ruler, the lion made a vow to himself that he would be a just ruler. He said that he wouldn’t eat any animals. The lion promised that he would only rely on insects and fruits. However, the lion made an exception for offenders and traitors. This was enough for the lion to be content.
After a while, there were little-to-know animals left to punish and the lion grew hungry. The lion then came up with a plan. He gathered his subjects to ask them if his vegetarian diet was causing his breath to smell.
Some animals told the truth that the lion’s breath was indeed stinking and so he ate them all. You would have though that the lion would only spared the animals who told him that his breath wasn’t smelling, however this wasn’t the case.
The lion also ate the animals who told him that his breath smelled bad. He didn’t spare any animal. After eating most of the animals in the jungle, it was then the monkey’s turn. The monkey reported that he smelled the lion’s breath and that it smelled very pleasant, like the breath of a nobleman.
The lion was pleased by the monkey’s compliment and he decided not to eat him. The lion wouldn’t want to eat the animal who showered him with compliments. However, the lion was hungry and he really wanted to eat the monkey.
So, the lion came up with another plan. He called the doctors and he showed his stomach to them. The lion showed them how his stomach was grumbling and this scared the doctors. He went on to explain to the doctors that he must have fallen ill.
The doctors all agreed with his claim. After having the doctors agreed with him, the lion told the doctors that the only way to come himself from this illness is the monkey’s meat. The doctors then went ahead to kill the monkey and they fed the meat to the lion. After eating the monkey’s meat, the lion was well fed and he was no longer hungry. One of the morals of this story is that the reward for speaking up and staying silent is the same.
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