Once ,a long time ago, in a faraway place,
deep in the heart of the jungle, lived a Lion.
Not just any lion, but the roughest, toughest Lion in the Jungle.
And he knew it !
He was the King of the Jungle !
Every day he would stalk round his Kingdom.
First, he would find the monkeys,
and he 'd let out the biggest roar you have ever heard !
"O mighty King! Live for ever!," said the monkeys.
"You are the roughest, toughest lion in the Jungle !"
Off the Lion would go. Proud and sure of himself.
Then he would find the giraffes,
and he 'd let out the biggest roar you have ever heard!
"O mighty King! Live for ever!," said the giraffes.
"You are the roughest, toughest lion in the Jungle !"
Off the Lion would go. Proud and sure of himself.
Then he would go and find the elephants,
and he 'd let out the biggest roar you have ever heard!
"O mighty King! Live for ever!," said the elephants.
"You are the roughest, toughest lion in the Jungle !"
Off the Lion would go. Proud and sure of himself.
Then he would go down to the river, to find the hippos and the crocodiles.
He'd let out the biggest roar you have ever heard!
"O mighty King! Live for ever!," said the crocodiles and the hippos,
"You are the roughest, toughest lion in the Jungle!"
Each night, the Lion went home, proud and happy.
This happened day after day,
until one day the Lion found a little mouse sitting on a stone.
The Lion let out the biggest roar you have ever heard..
And the little mouse sat very quietly and looked up at the Lion.
"Aren't you afraid?" growled the Lion, for he was very much annoyed.
"No, not really." said the mouse.
And the Lion let out the biggest roar you have ever heard.
The little mouse smiled to himself.
"Aren't you afraid?" growled the Lion.
"No, your Majesty. "said the mouse, for he was a polite little mouse.
"I know you're the roughest, toughest lion in the Jungle!
But one day, unless you are also very wise,
you will lose your Kingdom and being brave and strong
will not be enough to save you."
The Lion laughed .What a silly idea !
Off he went. Proud and sure of himself.
Time passed,
and the Lion soon forgot about the little mouse - and his warning.
One day ,a group of hunters arrived in the Jungle.
They had come to capture some animals for a zoo thousands of miles away.
The little mouse watched as they unloaded their cages.
Then he ran through the Jungle to find the Lion.
"Your Majesty, "he shouted, "The hunters are coming!"
"I'm not afraid of the hunters!" said the Lion,
"I'm the roughest, toughest Lion in the Jungle !"
He would not listen to the little mouse.
The little mouse ran to the monkeys ,the giraffes, the elephants,
the crocodiles and the hippos.
"The hunters are coming ! The hunters are coming ! "
he shouted at the top of his little voice.
And the animals hid.
They knew the jungle better than the hunters,
and with the little mouse's help they each found a hiding place
where they could wait until the hunters had gone .
All except the Lion.
The next morning, when the Lion went out to roar at the other animals,
he found the Jungle empty.
Just as he was about to let out the biggest roar you have ever heard -
he stood on a trap.
Suddenly, he was swinging high in the trees, inside a great, big net.
A few days later, the proud King, the roughest, toughest Lion in the Jungle
was behind bars in a zoo, miles away from his jungle Kingdom.
Back in the Jungle, the other animals were safe
-thanks to the wise little mouse.
"Will you be our King ?" they asked him,
and so the wise little mouse became King of the Jungle.
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