2023TheLionAndTheBull

Leo the lion held his court and asked about the current state of affairs of his kingdom. The ministers were happy to report that everything was fine and dandy. The first minister was the fox in charge of the department of cunning and craftiness (Diplomacy and Intelligence) and therefore earned the name "the Superfox." The subjects of the kingdom knew him as the slyest fox under the sky, in charge of clandestine operations. The subjects belonged to multiple species with different physiques, temperaments, and lifestyles. Some animal species were falsely labeled as criminal species: wild dogs. They were under constant watch. Baldo the bull was the defense minister. Believe it or not, this bull, four times the size of the king himself, had sharp horns and was quick to anger. He was just a mass of brawn and bravery, twitching to take on anyone who challenged the king's or his authority. He was known to paw, dig, and scratch the ground when he was ready to take on opponents under the authority of the king, dealing with native subjects or illegal and violent foreigners who flagrantly violated the law. He was especially sensitive to being called by such an epithet as "bullhead." This bull had a long history of taking on disobedient and lawless tigers, stomping them under his feet, goring them in the belly, and carrying them on his horns as trophies. However, the king forbade him to stomp and gore the lions. The lions were adequately warned not to engage the raging bull for fear of being killed. Some lions tried to jump on his back and bite his spine to paralyze him, but that didn't work because the bull was so agile that he bucked off all the lions who attempted to climb on his back. Many were stomped and gored to death. The lions and the bull kept a respectful distance between them. At one time, a lion tried to attack a calf, and the cow mooed in distress. The bull, standing nearby, lifted the lion by its sharp horns, threw it in the air, and the lion fell right onto the piercing horns and died. The problem was that the horns got caught in the lion's rib cage, and it took the bull two days to shake off the lion's body. The bull was so fierce that even the king and his subjects in the adjoining forest knew about him, located some twenty miles away. The two forests were connected by a twenty-mile-wide stretch of forest land. The common complaint of the lions was that the wild dogs always wanted to steal their kill. The bull patrolled the forest and advised the wild dogs to stay away from the lion's kill, but they never paid heed to his advice. The monkeys, though they stayed away from adult lions, always played with or tormented the lion cubs. The monkeys roughed up the lion cubs and would quickly climb up a tree before the mother or a member of the pride showed up to maul the monkey. The monkeys were always up to some mischief, harassing and taunting cubs of all mammals in the forest. They were known to have been caught and swallowed by mountain snakes. One monkey was seen walking on the floating crocs to cross the river. Freshwater crocodiles inhabited the forest river. They never bothered anyone, eating fish and remaining submerged for up to an hour, their heart beating only a few times during that hour. One day, a pride of lions from the adjoining forest wandered into Leo's kingdom as uninvited intruders. Soon, the native foxes reported the matter to the Superfox. He, along with his underlings and some monkeys, proceeded to watch the movements of the foreign pride of lions. When they spotted the pride, the fox sent the monkeys to harass them and send them back to their own forest. The monkeys tried but failed. The fox then sent some wild dogs to annoy the pride, with the monkeys bringing up the rear. The twenty dogs surrounded the pride from both the front and the back. They yelped, cried, and snapped at the lions, who numbered about five. Soon, more dogs joined in and continued to annoy them. With about 30 to 40 dogs, the pride couldn't put up any resistance. Whenever a lion chased after one dog, five more dogs would chase the lion and bite its tail. The pride had no choice but to turn around and retreat back to their own territory. On their way back, the retreating lions spotted some cows grazing on the meadow, along with their calves. Baldo, having some time off, often visited the meadow to spend time with the calves. The cows sensed the lions from a mile away and became restless, mooing desperately as they corralled the calves behind a bush. Baldo heard the mooing and looked out, seeing the pride approaching him with the wild dogs and monkeys in tow. Baldo pawed, scratched, and dug up sod from the grazing land, emitting hot breaths. The pride faced him, then dispersed around him, while one lion climbed onto his back. The dogs snapped at the pride's tails, and the monkeys jumped on their backs. Baldo's muscles writhed, wriggled, and rippled as he jumped violently, twisting his body in multiple directions. The lion on his back lost its grip, balance, and bite, eventually falling to the ground. In the chaos, Baldo stepped on the lion with his full weight, rendering it motionless. Witnessing the onslaught, the rest of the pride fled in fear. The dogs and monkeys chased them until the wounded pride reached the safety of their own territory. With the pride driven away, peace was restored to the kingdom.