The lion’s mask

Deep in the Savannah,

In the shade of and old acacia,

A lion was born.

He was small,

Because lions are born like that:

They don’t have a mane,

They don’t have teeth…

He drank a lot of milk

And grew a Little every day.

Although he was small,

Father Lion thought

He was big and strong like himself.

He looked at him proudly and said:

-You’ll be a real King of theSavannah!

Some time went by.

Lion Cub became a Little bigger and stronger.

A thick mane had grown,

And Sharp teeth too, like his dad’s; but…

He had a problema.

There was always a huge smile on hisface making Friends wherever he

went.

Father Lion roared:

GRRR…!

You can’t go around laughing like a hyena!

A real lion has to frighten.

You’ll never be King of theSavannah like that!

Lion Cub tried to put on an angryface;

But seeing himself in the riverjust made him laugh.

Lion’s Cub other problem was his roar.

When Father Lion roared, theSavannah shook and the animals ran

to their hiding places.

GRRRRRR…!

When Lion Cub tried to imitate him, nobody wanted to miss it because it

always came out as:

Meeoow!

Father Lion roared:

-GRRRRR…!

You can’t go around meowing like a cat!

A real lion has to make everyone panic.

You’ll never be King of the Savannah likethat!

Lion Cub put his roaring face on, but itfelt ticklish and he began to laugh

Lion Cub’s third problema was even more serious:

His best friend was a stripy zebra, he played tag with her

(zebras are experts at this).

Father Lion roared:

-GRRRRR…!

You can’t have a zebra for a friend!

A real lion would eat her up.

You’ll never be King of the Savannah likethat!

(Lion Cub couldn’t take part in this because he had to do what he felt his heart.)

One night,

Father Lion went to visit thewoodpecker

And asked him to make a mask

as light as a feather,

as cold as hate and

as red as anger.

The work was finished in seven days.

The bird wrapped it up in a big leafand took it to Father Lion.

It was a terrifying mask!

That night, while Lion Cub was asleep, Father Lion put the mask on him and

thought proudly:

You’ll be the most fearedKing of the Savannah like

that!

The following morning

Lion Cub woke up from a nightmare and wentto tell his friend about it.

The zebra was eating grass with her sisters.

Lion Cub smiled,

But his face was hidden by the mask.

Then someone shouted:

A lion!

The zebras were panic-stricken and, more thanrunning,

flew over the Savannah.

-It’s me! –Lion Cub shouted, puzzled;

But, with the noise of the stampede,

Nobody Heard him.

GRRRR…!

Lion Cub didn’t understand,

And got so annoyed

that from Deep in his throat came a roar

that made the Savannah shake.

From that day on

Nobody went near Lion Cub.

His heart hardened like a Stone:

He didn’t even hear it beating.

He was the most feared in theSavannah!

But his life turned for the worst,

Because that wasn’t leaving or anything.

One night when the clouds hid the moon,

Safe in the darkness,

All the animals got together.

-Where did that lion come from?

-The giraffe asked.

-We can’t have a meal in peace

-The antelope complained.

-we’re as wrinkled as prunes…

We dare not come out of the water

-The hippopotamus moaned.

-We can’t sleep neither day nor nightbecause of his roar- the bats sighed.

While the animals were complaining,

None of them realized

That their enemy was crouching in thegrass.

He suddenly jumped out amongstthem.

The animals ran not knowing where,

Because it was so dark they couldn’tsee.

With his claws on his prey Lion Cub shouted:

-Got you!

-Leave my legs alone, I’m ticklish.

Let me go, I’m in stitches.

That animal didn’t stop laughing, and the lioncouldn’t move a muscle.

Well…, one moved, although nobody saw it.

First he pulled a face, then he smiled…,and finished up laughing his socks off!

On hearing the laughter,

The other animals,

Intrigued, went back.

They couldn’t see a thing;

But the moon, who was keeping an eye onmatters, pushed the clouds away…,

And then they discovered Lion Cub had come back.

He’d grown,

And his heart beat like a drum.

He laughed as always, while he tickled thezebra, because…

…laughter is magic:

It breaks through masks

And is also catching.

THE END