Week 3 Storytelling: The Sick Lion and the Beasts

It is Bilbo Baggins' 120th birthday today. People have come around from all over the Shire to Hobbiton to celebrate this day. Tents are being put up, barrels of ale are set up for the guests, food covers every inch of dozens of tables, and Gandalf has finally arrived with his wondrous fireworks. Meanwhile, although he appears to not know what is happening, Bilbo is preparing his story for the little ones. There are always little ones at large gatherings, running amuck when the parents turn their backs. A good way to contain them, Bilbo found, was to tell a story. The children would then gather round, sitting quietly, listening raptly to the tale that Bilbo has brought them.

"What shall I call this one?" Bilbo thinks to himself. "The Lion that was Sick? No, no, too boring. The Lion Against the rest of the world? Nah, too dramatic. How about The Sick Lion and the Beasts? Sounds almost like the beasts and the sick lion are fighting, can be exciting!"

And so the night of the party has arrived, the venue filled with hobbits from all over the Shire. As usual, kids are running around everywhere, parents have confused expressions on their face when they turn around from a quick chat to find that their child or children are gone, and Gandalf is entertaining the guests with his impressive fireworks.

Bilbo has finally arrived and headed immediately to one of the tents, one to avoid having to talk or even see his relatives, but also to gather round the kids so he can share this exciting tale.

Bilbo telling his story (source: tumblr)

"Gather round here kids, I've got a tale for you today:

There once was a Lion, who ruled the land with terror. He enjoyed his power as the most ferocious beast, and would bully around all the other animals under his dominion. The animals would have to hunt not only for themselves and their family, but also for the Lion. The Lion would hold court at the end of each day, where the animals can come to present their offering to him. If he was satisfied, they were free to go. If not, well, you don't want to know what happened to them. Let's just say they were never seen again.

One day, the Lion got ill. He retreated to his cave and rested for the day, but still didn't get any better. At the end of the day, the animals came as usual to present their offerings, but the Lion wasn't there. One of the hyenas, the Lion's minions, came out of the cave to tell the other animals to enter the cave one at a time and leave their offering for the Lion.

The sick Lion in his cave (source: Google)

Slowly, the animals entered one by one, but none of them ever came out. The animals left outside started getting suspicious and were stirring restlessly. When it was the Fox's turn, he refused to enter the cave. The other animals are getting wary as well, and one decided to speak up.

"All the animals entered, but none of them have come back out. Some of them have large offerings as well, so there's no way they were punished," said the Ass. The other animals agreed with the Fox and the Ass, and started asking for their fellow animals. The hyenas, being outnumbered could do little to diffuse the situation.

The Lion heard the commotion going on outside and decided to put an end to it. When the other animals saw the Lion come out, they knew something was wrong.

"Very clever, Fox, to hesitate entering my domain. You too are smart, Ass, to bring up the size of their offerings. Indeed, they were all quite tasty and sizable. It was even better when it was coupled with the offerers themselves," declared the Lion, smirking menacingly. The other animals immediately realized they were in danger of being eaten themselves and started to run this way and that, trying to escape the Lion and his hyenas.

The Fox and the Ass had rounded up the other beasts and have gathered into a formation, quickly running towards the outnumbered Lion and hyena. The beasts trampled the unfair and terrible ruler, and the Lion is no more. The animals then lived together in harmony, caring and helping for each other. The end."

By the time the story had ended, the kids were still so raptured. "Just remember kids, it is easier to get into the enemy's toils than out again. Think before you act!" Bilbo said, giving the advice to the young children. "Alright then, off you go, it's time for cake!"

Bilbo's cake (source: Google)

The kids cheered as they ran out of the tent, excited to get to the large cake with 120 candles on it. The celebration went on without a hitch, with no unexpected dragon firework or magic rings.

Another year for Bilbo Baggins.

Author's Note
I decided to use the stories of The Ass and the Sick Lion and The Lion, the Fox, and the Beasts (which can be found here) together, since they are quite similar. In both stories, the Lion is sick in a cave, animals come to visit, but none ever come back out. The Ass and the Fox notice this and don't fall into the trap and get to live.

I made up my own ending, since the original stories didn't have them, and used the format of Bilbo telling a story from the list of ideas listed here.

I chose this style because it seemed the simplest. Since they're Aesop Fables, it seemed a logical choice to choose a storytelling style, since they're meant to be told.

The images are footage of Bilbo and his cake from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

Bibliography: The stories are included in Aesop's Fables (Jacobs), which can be found here.