And the lion said, "I don't know. I never built a house, because I
always lived in the jungle, where there are lots of trees and grass,
and we found our houses already built, just like your den. But I will
do anything you want me to. I can jump ever so far."
And the little Cub Bear said, "That is nice. Let's see how far you can
jump."
Then the Papa Bear and the Mamma Bear, and the little Cub Bear, and the
monkey all went out to see how far the lion could jump. The owl flapped
his great wings and said, "To-whit! To-whit! To-whit!"
The lion crept away, then he said:
"Now, I will show you how I catch things to eat."
And he pointed to a log of wood ten or fifteen feet away, and he said,
"I will show you what I would do if that log were a deer."
The lion crouched and lay as still as a little mouse, and the bears
were all still, waiting to see what the lion would do. There was not
a sound in the forest. Suddenly, little Cub Bear saw a yellow flash
through the air and heard a thud. Then he looked at the log of wood,
and there was the lion on the log with his claws stuck into it.
And the little Cub Bear said, "My! I am glad I am not a deer, and that
the lion does not want me for his dinner."
The animals worked all morning, trying to make the cave larger, but the
Papa Bear went off with little Susie Bear to see what they could find
to eat. When dinner time came, the animals all rested for a while.
As they were sitting there talking, little Cub Bear said to the lion,
"Mr. Lion, I wish you would tell me a story about the most narrow
escape you ever had in your life."