There was once a majestic lion who had fallen madly in love
with a beautiful human maiden. The lion
was strong and brave, but not nearly as sharp as his claws or teeth. Even so, he desired greatly to marry this
young woman with whom he was so smitten and so went to ask for her hand in
marriage.
Upon seeing the ferocious beast, the young maiden’s mother
nearly collapsed of fright, but her father, being a more shrewd and careful man
stood his ground and demanded a single condition of the lion.
 |
| The Maiden and the Lion |
“If you are to marry my daughter,” he began, “I cannot bear
the thought that some harm my come to her from you, even by accident.” Although the lion began to protest that he
was a very careful beast, her father presented his plan. “If you will agree to be defanged and declawed,
I shall know that my daughter is safe and that you may wed.”
This shocked the lion, and even sent a shiver of fear down
his otherwise courageous back. Being so
madly in love, however, he consented to the barbaric procedure, and restrained
himself so well that the poor doctors marveled at the strength of his love and
determination.
After several months in recovery (which he spent being
waited upon by his equally smitten wife-to-be) the lion bravely returned and
once again asked for the hand of the fair woman.
This time, however, her father was not so cordial and her
mother not so affrighted.
“You foolish lion!” laughed the man, “How could you ever
think I would give my daughter to such a beast as you?” The lion started, shocked by this sudden turn
of events. The man continued “Ahah! Now
you see how love can tame even the wildest of beasts and turn them into nothing
more than harmless kittens.” The man
turned away, amused by his own cleverness, and dragged his daughter along with
him, leaving the toothless creature behind him.
But the man was not so clever as he had imagined, for the
lion, although stripped of his most dangerous gifts was still a mighty beast,
endowed with great size, speed, and strength.
He roared, an awful, wounded roar, and charged at the diminutive
man. Although his claws could no longer
tear him to shreds as in times past, the strength of his paws was still steady
and he crushed the mean little trickster before him. He turned next to the now terrified wife, and
with one large gulp, swallowed up her head.
Although he had no teeth, the strength of his jaws was as great as before,
and the delicate bones of the woman stood no chance.
He turned one last time to the fair maiden, knowing that they
could never be, but having exacted his revenge on the cruel people who had made
his life so miserable. He sprang away,
never to be seen again.
Removing the weapons
from your opponent does not render them powerless.
Author’s note: I
mostly tried to retain the original feel of Aesop’s legendary fables in my word
choice and syntax. This is based
entirely on the original fable of The Lion in Love, in which the same situation
occurs, but the lion does not retaliate.
I thought that a more valuable lesson could be learned by showing the
probable consequences of a man cheating a lion out of his teeth and claws for
love. When I read the original story, I
thought “why doesn’t the lion just get him anyway, it’s not like he is
powerless?” That was the inspiration for
this fable.
Hey Blake!
ReplyDeleteThis is such an amazing continuation of the story. This was the first time I had ever read the original and I was not sure on how someone would retell this story, but I truly enjoyed yours. The plot twist and ending were great and I thought that it was great. I would say that my favorite part was the lesson aspect, out was incredibly thought out. Amazing job!
Blake,
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job of keeping the feel of the story! I felt like I was reading one of Aesops fables. I agree that, being the most powerful beast, everyone would think that the lion would retaliate. I thought that made the story even more interesting. I love your lesson at the end. Never mess with a man (or lion) with a broken heart!
I really enjoyed your story. I wasn't really all that shocked when the father went back on his word, but that is because it seemed like the typical thing a father in this kind of story would do. I really liked how you showed that the lion was still a lethal weapon even without the tools he once had. I wonder how different the story would have been if the daughter had gone against her father and gone with the lion of her own free will. What if the lion had killed the daughter as well taking the whole approach of "If I can't have you, no one can"?
ReplyDeleteHey Blake! This was a great retelling. I like how we got to see a bit more into the thoughts of the lion. The little commentary about the doctors was also interesting. Also, I am glad that you mentioned that the girl was also in love with the lion! That was something that bothered me in the original, is that we know nothing about the girl! I wonder if we could have seen more of the girl though. Perhaps interaction with her parents, or with the lion. You mention how she cared for him while he was recovering. Did the parents have anything to say to her about this continued interaction, especially if they were not married and they didn't intend on allowing it to happen? The lion at the end assumes that she would never have him after having killed her parents. While I think that this is a safe assumption, considering that we got bits of her story, I would have loved to see her reaction. Perhaps her father was cruel to her, she saw his cruelty when he forced the lion to defang/declaw. Maybe she would have gone with him? Again, I love your retelling and how it delves deeper into these characters, it just makes me want more!
ReplyDelete