The Toothless Lion. About Fear

The Toothless Lion
There was once a village not far from here where the people lived in fear. A huge lion bigger than any lion anyone had ever seen prowled the area looking for people to frighten and attack. Its fierce roars kept the villagers awake at night. Few people dared step out of their homes alone terrified of what the beast might do. Every evening the lion padded down the narrow streets, its huge mane brushing against the buildings then at street corners, or outside open windows it would stop and let out a thunderous sound whilst swaying its head from side to side.

Parents told their children, “ You mustn’t go out at night, be careful of the lion. It might kill or badly injure you.”

There were a few children who had heard about the lion and had been awoken by its loud voice, but had never seen it. “ Let’s go and find this lion and see what it is really like,” they said. They wandered off into the forest during the day when they reckoned the lion might be resting. It was dark and silent; the trees were tall letting in little light. They came to a clearing and spotted the lion, resting. The lion saw them, and opened its mouth and roared. All but one of the children ran off screaming to their parents for help.
The child that was left felt no fear, and stared back at the beast. As the lion approached the child stared again. By this time most of the villagers had arrived. They watched in terror seeing the small child so close to the enormous lion.

However, the child that was left felt no fear, and stared back. “The lion has no claws,” the child shouted. “It must have lost them in some fight, or through illness perhaps?” The lion came closer and yet the child that was left felt no fear. The lion opened its gigantic mouth peered down to terrify the child, and was about to roar, when the child saw that the lion had no teeth. “ You have no teeth, you cannot bite”, shouted the child to the villagers.

The child without fear put its hand inside the lion’s mouth. And the mouth closed over the small hand, but nothing happened.
The villagers were amazed as was the lion. The toothless, clawless lion could do no harm. The child without fear was cheered as a hero.

From that day the lion never dared come to terrify the village because no one was scared of it anymore. If it had come they would have chucked garbage at to shut it up if it had started to roar.

The toothless lion with its swaying magnificent mane had lost its power forever.