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Week 2 Story: The Infatuation of the Lion

At the fork of a powerful river, a small village thrived, peaceful in all ways but one. Every full moon, a Lion would come bounding from the forest, demanding the most prized livestock on which to gorge himself. As King of Beasts, the villagers would not dare refuse him, but gradually their food supplies dwindled so much they would soon no longer be able to sustain themselves.

Now the leader of this village and his wife had a daughter, a beautiful maiden whose smile was like sunshine. Knowing that they could not continue sacrificing to the Lion, the village leader decided to take his own action.

“What satisfaction am I supposed to gain from this creature?” roared the lion when faced with the maiden.

“Please, you Majesty. Allow her to serve you for one month and see whether or not she is more valuable than anything else we could offer you in the village,” the leader replied. “After a moon has passed, meet me once again and if she has not fulfilled your wishes, we will continue providing for you. If you take a liking for her, may you disappear from us forever into the depths of the forest, with her at your side”.

Amused, the Lion agreed to his terms, and together with the daughter trekked back to his cave.
The maiden was an exceptional young woman, full of confidence and charm. During this month, she hid all her fear behind her smile that was like sunshine. Her laugh rippled through the cave like a birdsong; her singing echoed in the hollow cave and touched the Lion’s heart.

Once a moon had past, the Lion eagerly bounded back to the village with the maiden and declared to the village leader that he would gladly accept his daughter, vowing to disappear from the village forever.

“On one condition,” the leader said. “Look, your claws have cut her while she slept, your teeth have bruised her ivory skin. We know you mean her no harm, but your strength overwhelms her”.

The Lion saw this, and was ashamed, for no one want to harm those they love.

“Allow us to remove your claws that cut her and your teeth that bruise her,” the mother appealed, “she will serve you in place of them and bring you happiness”.

The Lion was so much in love with the maiden that his beastly instincts were overcome. He allowed himself to have his teeth removed and his claws extracted. But when the time came for him to take the maiden and depart, the villager gathered and laughed at him. His once-mighty roar was no longer threatening, his large paws held no more intimidation. Disgraced, the Lion slunk back into the woods alone.

Every full moon, the Lion returns. He says nothing and is rarely seen by the villagers, but sits in the shadows of the forest, listening for the laughter that is like birdsong, hoping for a glimpse of the smile that is like sunshine.

Love can tame the wildest.


Image Details: The Lion in Love by Felix Bracquemond; source: Wiki

The Lion in Love. Story by Joseph Jacobs from The Fables of Aesop (1894). Web Source.


Author's note: I suprisingly had more fun retelling this story that I first thought. The orinigal fable was very short, only 155 words; I thought that the Lion was very pitiful, so I imagined a tale where he was persecuting the villagers so their actions would be more justified. I wanted to keep the story less fleshed out, driving home the lesson that love turns even the wildest into fools at times. I did include a few characteristics about the female character, as it is 2019 and want to encourage more reasons for infatuation than just appearance; I also wanted to convey her strength and courage in the face of adversity, and what better way than charming a lion to fall in love with her. I loved the simplicity of the original work, but enjoyed adding more motivation behind the different characters' actions. 

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Comments

  1. SpencerKunzJanuary 23, 2019 at 2:11 PM

    First of all, great job with this retelling! I thought you did a nice job of keeping things short and sweet while still managing to capture all of the necessary details of the plot. I thought one of the specific strengths of this piece was the figurative language that you employed (i.e. "whose smile was like sunshine"). This, combined with your vivid word choice, gave the piece a beautiful tone.

    The daughter in the story is incredibly selfless and brave -- what enabled her to keep up her spirits, even in the face of danger? What was her motivation that allowed her to stay strong for the span of a month?

    In the end, what would have happened if the daughter developed feelings for the lion in return? Would she have still forced the lion to lose his teeth and claws or would she have defended him to the villagers? Or, would she have sided with the lion entirely and left her village behind?

    Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  2. MeghanJanuary 26, 2019 at 3:03 PM

    Hi Moriah!
    I really liked your story! What a coincidence, I also wrote my story on this fable. I was drawn to the original story even though it was short because I thought the lesson was interesting. I really liked that you added more information about the girl to make her more of a fleshed out character. I also like that you made the lion into a villain at the beginning, in the original fable it does seem kind of like a cruel trick they play on him. In the end you mad the lesson too personable for me maybe. I was much sadder for him in this tale than in the original. I guess I'm a sucker for a doomed romance? I do wish we knew more about how the girl felt for the lion.
    This was really good and I'm excited to read more from you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Rebecca MitchellFebruary 8, 2019 at 12:08 AM

    Hi, Moriah!

    Your story is so well-written and intriguing! I love how you added details about the lion menacing the village and about the girl and how she ended up making the lion fall in love with her. This story is so much more interesting and touching than the original but still keeps the same over all message. The ending, in particular, is so sweet yet so sad and really completes the story. Great job on adding details and backstory, building on to the original to make a much more complete and beautiful story!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anhthu TrinhApril 8, 2019 at 10:58 AM

    Hi Moriah,
    Your story was so well-written. I love the descriptions you gave for the maiden and for the lion. I definitely felt so sorry for the lion at the end. I feel like I understood his feelings throughout the story even thought it was short. I like how you changed the original story and made it emphasize more on the smile that looked like sunshine. It was a beautiful ending with the part talking about how the lion would hide in the woods, trying to get a glimpse of the sunshine smile. Can't wait to read more!

    ReplyDelete

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