One day Ah-Fou's father said to him, "Come here, my boy, and I will
tell you a story. Do you remember the great lion we saw one day, which
Ah-Kay caught? You know a strong rope held him, and he roared and
tried to free himself until he died. Then when Ah-Kay took him from
the net, he looked at the rope and the bamboo carefully, and found five
of the great ropes broken.
"How strong is the lion? Twenty children like you could not break one
strand of that great rope. But the lion broke five complete ropes. He
is the strongest of all animals. He catches many creatures for his
food, but once he lost a battle with one of the least of the wilderness
creatures. Do you know what it was?"
"A bird could fight and then fly away. Was it a bird?"
"No, my son."
"A man is stronger than a lion."
"No; do you not remember the woodcutter who could put down five strong
men? One night a wilderness lion caught and killed him."
"Then what was the smallest of all creatures of the wilderness that
battled with a lion?"
The father said, "I will tell you the story: Once in the summer time
the Lion was very thirsty. But the sun had taken all the water near
the Lion's home and he went to many places seeking for it. In time he
found an old well, but the water was not fresh. As the Lion was very
thirsty, he said, 'I must drink, even though the water is stale.'
"But when he reached down into the old well, he found that it was the
home of all the Mosquitoes of the wilderness.
"The Mosquitoes said to the Lion, 'Go away, we do not want you. This
is our home and we are happy. We do not wish the lion, the fox, or the
bear to come here. You are not our friend. Why do you come?"
"The Lion roared and said, 'Weak and foolish things! I am the Lion.
It is you that should go away, for I have come to drink. This is my
wilderness, and I am king. Do you know, weak things, that when I come
out from my place and send forth my voice, all the creatures of the
wilderness shake like leaves and bow their heads to me? What are you
that you should have a place you call your home and tell me that I may
or I may not?'
"Then the Mosquitoes answered, 'You are only one. You speak as if you
were many. Our people had this old well for a home before your roar
was heard in the wilderness. And many generations of us have been born
here. This home is ours, and we are they that say who shall come or
go. And yet you come and tell us to go out of our own door. If you do
not leave us, we will call our people, and you shall know trouble.'
"But the Lion held his head high with pride and anger and said, 'What
are you, oh, small of the small? I will kill every one of your useless
people. When I drink, I will open my mouth only a little wider, and
you shall be swallowed like the water. And to-morrow I shall forget
that I drank to-day.'
"'Boastful one,' said the Mosquitoes, 'we do not believe that you have
the power to destroy all our people. If you wish battle, we shall see.
We know your name is great and that all animals bow their heads before
you; but our people can kill you.'
"The Lion jumped high in his rage and said, 'No other creature in the
wilderness has dared to say these things to me--the king. Have I come
to the vile well of the silly Mosquitoes for wisdom?' And he held his
head high, and gave the mighty roar of battle, and made ready to kill
all the Mosquitoes.
"Then the Mosquitoes, big and little, flew around him. Many went into
his ears, and the smallest ones went into his nose, and the big old
ones went into his mouth to sting. A thousand and a thousand hung in
the air just over his head and made a great noise, and the Lion soon
knew that he could not conquer.
"He roared and jumped, and two of his front feet went down into the
well. The well was narrow and deep and he could not get out, for his
two hind feet were in the air and his head hung downward. And as he
died, he said to himself:
"'My pride and anger have brought me this fate. Had I used gentle
words, the Mosquitoes might have given me water for my thirst. I was
wise and strong in the wilderness, and even the greatest of the animals
feared my power. But I fought with the Mosquitoes and I die--not
because I have not strength to overcome, but because of the foolishness
of anger."
EE-SZE (Meaning): The wise can conquer the foolish. Power is nothing,
strength is nothing. The wise, gentle and careful can always win.