Free 09 Lion Adventure by Willard Price Page B

killed.
    ‘I’m sorry for what happened,’ he said. ‘But it really wasn’t the lion’s fault. Suppose you woke to find someone attacking you with a pair of scissors. Wouldn’t you do something about it?’
    ‘But the lions we’ve seen have been so gentle.’
    ‘They’re gentle so long as you leave them alone. But remember, the lion is the most dangerous animal in Africa.’
    ‘Oh now, aren’t you exaggerating?’
    ‘I don’t think so. I’m just telling you what the great hunters and naturalists say. Records show more fatal accidents from lions than from any other animal. The famous hunter, Selous, thought the lion the most dangerous of all African big game. The two white hunters, Tarlton and Cunningham, put the lion at the top of the list. Game Warden Temple-Perkins, after thirty years of experience, graded the dangerous animals by points. Most of them ranked less than a hundred. The buffalo and elephant each got five hundred and fifty points’ He gave the lion seven hundred and twenty-five points as the most dangerous of all.’
    “That’s not the way I heard it,’ objected Gladys. ‘I’ve read articles by tourists - they didn’t have the least trouble with lions. They debunked them - said they were much over-rated.’
    ‘Do you know why?’ Hal replied. “They saw the lions just as you did - from a car. They didn’t get out of the car. If they had, they might tell a different story. You can’t debunk the lion. How do you suppose he got the title of King of Beasts? He has always been the symbol of courage. King Richard was proud to be called “Richard the Lion-Heart”. The kings of England and Scotland displayed lions on their shields. The rulers of Norway, Denmark, and Holland, all had lions on their coats-of-arms. In Egypt lions were worshipped as gods. The priests bathed them in perfumed water and fed them the choicest food and entertained them with sacred music. They were embalmed like humans when they died and they were buried with great ceremony. Even today all through Africa men are proud to be called lions. The Emperor Haile Selassie calls himself “The Lion of Judah”. The elephant is a great animal too. But did you ever hear of a king calling himself an elephant? Or a rhino or buffalo or giraffe? You can’t imagine Richard wanting to be called “Richard the Hippo-Heart”. No, it’s always the lion. The Emperor keeps a tame lion in his palace. Chiefs in the Congo wear lion skins to show that they are great men. Many tribes worship a lion-god.’
    ‘Why do they think the lion is so wonderful?’
    ‘I suppose because the lion is brave. You said yourself the lions don’t move away when you drive up. They aren’t afraid of you. They know they are stronger than
    you are. You felt what just one little tap of one paw could do. If he had really swatted you, you would not be alive now. I saw two lions drag a dead horse up a steep hill. Twenty men couldn’t have done it. A lion can jump over a fence twelve feet high and climb out again dragging a cow heavier than himself. A lion is afraid of a man with a gun - but not of any man without one. He’s not afraid of any animal on earth - except the ant. A swarm of ants chewing into his hide makes him very unhappy. Most people think lions can’t climb trees. Usually they don’t, but I saw one climb thirty feet high to get a gazelle put there by a leopard. It’s hard to kill a lion. He doesn’t know when he’s dead. A white hunter tells of one lion that ran twenty yards with a bullet in his heart. Many a hunter has been killed because the lion kept right on coming after it had been fatally shot.’
    ‘All right,’ said Gladys. ‘We’ll admit the lion is strong. But there’s something more important than that. Is he intelligent? He looks so sleepy and stupid.’
    ‘He’s not stupid. He’s so smart he can make plans, like a human being. For instance, suppose there’s a kraal or corral full of cattle. Suppose the lions are hungry