Week 2 Story: A retelling of Aesop's "The Lion and the Statue"

Image source: Wikipedia

A friendship formed between a Man and a Lion. This was almost unheard of, and the kinship was met with animosity. The Man and the Lion were unbothered by the glares they received, and they met daily to discuss many things. They played word games, talked of hunting, and laughed often. There were a number of things in which the Man excelled compared to his friend. He could read and write and discuss politics. Although the Lion could not perform the same tasks, he was King of the animals and proved to have great strength.

Once in their regular conversation, the Man began speaking of human strength. He made extravagant claims that Man could overpower any animal.

“Do you think that Man is stronger than Lion?”, the Lion asked.

“Well, of course. Man has wrestled many great beasts and always prevails”, his friend replied.

The Lion wondered why the Man would believe something so foolish. “How can you believe that Man is stronger than Lion, than Crocodile, or Ape? You yourself have never fought another creature. Have you ever seen a Man defeat such a beast?”

The Man did not hesitate in responding to his friend. “Why, dear Lion, there is a statue in the center of my village. I will take you to see it.”

The Man and the Lion walked into the center of the village together, where the Man proudly gestured towards a large statue. The statue was of a humongous man with a spear. He was grimacing while holding a Lion to the ground by his jaw.

“See? This is David. He is commended for killing this Lion on his own. He is a testament to the strength of Man.”

“But, who created this statue, friend? It was another Man like yourself. It is easy enough to build a statue of what you would like Man to be like. That does not mean that it is true. Even if David did kill that Lion, that does not say anything about the strength of other Men.” The Lion awaited a response from the Man, who had become enraged by the Lion’s accusations.

The Man demanded, “You do not believe in the strength of Man? Perhaps you and I should combat in order for me to prove the strength naturally bestowed upon all of Man.”

The Lion remained calm. “But, I do not want to harm you, friend.”

“Nevermind that”, replied the Man. “I believe it is you who will lose this fight.”

The two friends called upon others of their respective species and went to the nearby arena. This was to be a great spectacle.

The Man entered from the left side of the arena carrying a spear similar to David’s. The Lion entered from the right, and upon seeing the weapon, asked, “If you are truly so strong, why do you need a spear to kill me?” The Man did not respond. “Well, then, friend. Let us begin.”

The Lion was calm and walked slowly toward his old friend. The Man, still angered by the words of the Lion, lunged first. The Lion easily avoided the Man’s attack, and remained patient for the next. The Man lunged again, and the Lion swiped once quickly to throw the spear to the ground. The Man, astonished as to how he could have lost his weapon so easily, decided to charge in anger at the Lion. The Lion pounced upon the Man into a position from which he had easy access to the Man’s throat. The Man, understanding what a buffoon he had been, waited for the end.

The Lion saw the fear in his friend’s eyes, and said, “I will not kill you, friend, for you have acted irrationally. You must now know that you cannot believe in such eccentric claims unless you have proof. Avoiding logic and truth is the way of the fool.”

Author’s note: I chose Aesop’s fable The Lion and the Statue as inspiration for my first storytelling post. The fable itself is only five sentences, and the moral is explicitly expressed at the end. I chose this story because fables are generally so short that they do not provide much context. I wanted to depict the importance of not believing in something without reason through the rational Lion and irrational Man. We see many characters like the Man in everyday life, as there are always large numbers of people who believe in something without substantial proof, or people who chose not to believe things even when they are given proof. A good example of this is the argument of whether or not to teach evolution in public schools, even though there is substantial proof for evolution. The Lion demonstrates the importance of logical thinking.

Aesop. The Lion and the Statue. Link