One fine day Leo the lion was strolling casually through the jungle in which he ruled. Having all that he ever needed, family, friends, respect and a place to lie his head, he had no reason to worry about a thing. He never had a problem that he could not solve eventually.

All the other animals in the jungle looked to him for guidance and always had a safe enviroment to live in. All except for the newcomers, the Rats. Tired of being kicked out of every country they ever lived in, they planned to find a country in which they could be their own boss and others would have to listen to them. They heard of Leo and did not care about his natural appointment as the Jungle's King.

A rather foul tempered young rat named Isaac was quick to make Leo look weak and useless. "Brothers, I see this lush land and furthermore see that we should be the kings, not this Leo that does not deserve it. It is way too clean and quiet here for my tastes, we have to make this our home totally."

Passersby heard the rat's rantings and scoffed at his bravery. A mere rat would challenge the King of the Jungle? Such Silliness..

"You wait and see," said the angry rat, "I will become king and you will pay for laughing at me!" he screamed as they looked back half laughing and half worried.

Leo the lion was informed of this brave rat and reassured the others that it was just talk and that the new neighbors would quickly learn the rules that nature had made so plain. This was not to be though, as Isaac preached day and night to his brethren about takeover.

"How can we get rid of this lion and make this our jungle?" he asked, pondering hard. "In all the other lands we inhabited, we were quickly thrown out once the king found us out to be a threat to his throne," said Isaac deviously. "Maybe instead of just getting the throne, this time we should get rid of the king."

"I think we should just keep to ourselves and not draw attention to us," said a meek rat named Bartholomew.

"What!" shrieked Isaac. "you will have more to do with this plan than you think," he smirked "You, oh cowardly rat, will be the bait!" He grinned with evil satisification, rubbing his grubby paws together. Soon Leo would know of the rats that had moved into his jungle, very soon.

As he took his daily stroll through his kingdom, he was quickly greeted by a rather worried looking zebra. "My King, these rats are becoming unbearable, they are speaking lies of you and telling us that it is not fair for one lion to be the sole ruler of the land." the zebra uttered.

"Ha ha . . . I am sure this is some kind of wicked joke my friend and there is no need to be concerned," said Leo, brushing off the zebra's worry. "They have done nothing wrong that I have seen and I have no proof that they are up to no good."

"But . . but . . ." the zebra stuttered.

"Easy on your suspicion. Rats are far too small to do anything but scurry in front of elephants," Leo reassured the zebra. "Go home and enjoy this fine day. I will keep an eye out." he winked.

More time passed and much more was to be said to the king on these matters, but still he did not have the proof he needed. So he continued on with his usual routines.

Finally, the day had come for Isaac's master plan to be put in motion. As promised, he called for Bartholomew and sent him on his way to taunt the king and be the bait. The meek rat scurried off in saddness, for he knew that he might be eaten by the lion.

Lying down in his favorite spot, Leo basked in the glory of the day. His eyelids became heavy from watching the birds play in the sky. Their chirps of joy were music to his ears. He felt total peace and was happy that his kingdom was safe for another day. Just about to doze off, he heard the pitter patter of small feet running around him. He looked, but did not see anything. Thinking that he was just sleepy, he closed his eyes again. Once more he was awoken by the sound of small feet. This time he arose silently and sniffed the air.

"What is that horrible smell?" he wondered. "It is definitely unlike any animal I know." Then he saw a small shadow quaking behind the tree that was like an umbrella for his resting spot.

"Who's there?" he called out.

He received no response and called out again louder, "Show yourself!"

A weak little scruffy rodent inched his way from behind the tree. This animal truly was a pathetic sight and Leo asked, "Are you a rat?"

"Yes, I am." said the scared creature.

"Why are you here?" asked the lion. "Do you have a problem that must be solved?" he questioned Bartholomew.

"Indeed we do, I have been sent by our leader to ask that you meet with him." the rat said.

"Why did he not come on his own?" asked the king.

"He is very scared of you and was afraid that he would be eaten." said the timid rodent.

"Well, aren't you the brave one!" King Leo laughed.

"I would do anything for my fellow rats," Bartholemew proclaimed proudly. "I must hurry back though!" he said with great urgency.

"Don't worry, I can keep up," said the confindent king.

"Good," the rat said in a sneaky sounding voice. Leo noticed this change in tone, but paid it no mind and ran carelessly behind the fast-paced rat.

Soon they had arrived to the Rats' nest and saw one rat being fanned with leaves by other rats. The rat had a makeshift crown upon his head made of sticks and grass. Bartholomew and the King stopped and were very tired from the long journey.

"This my king is the lion that you sent for," the humble rat said.

"Ah, the old King of the Jungle," Isaac said snidly.

"Old?" Leo asked.

"Yes. Old, useless and not worthy of such a title anymore," the king rat said harshly. "The only true King of the Jungle is me!"

Leo was confused, and using his paw to scratch his head he asked, " You are the king?"

"The one and only," the rat said royally.

"Surely if you were meant to rule, nature would have made it so," Leo laughed. "I am a hundred times bigger than you."

"Nature is foolish!" snapped the rat.

"It is?" Leo chuckled a littled harder.

"Yes it is and as the new king of this jungle, I make my own rules!" screamed the rat. "I order you to bow and pay your respects to the new king."

"Little rat," the lion said, "I will give you a chance to end this silliness and let you return home before I eat you.

"This is my kingdom and I am not ever going to leave!" the rat shouted. Other rats backed him up with thunderous cheers.

"Well, I am sorry that we could not settle this peacefully," Leo said sadly.

Promptly the evil rat jumped up and bit the lion's nose hard. "Owwwwww!" bellowed the lion in pain.

Isaac and his subjects quickly turned tail and ran as fast as they could. Enraged by this act of ultimate defiance, the King pursued them with great vigor. The chase seemed endless, through the jungle, then through the water and finally leading out into the desert. Along the way, other rats would fall out and go their separate ways,but Leo kept chasing Isaac. Although the rat's crown had fallen off long ago in the chase, Leo's anger kept him focused on that one rat.

The rat soon stopped, huffing and puffing and cried pitifully, "Stop!"

The raging lion barely stopped in time and almost ran over the poor rodent. " Little rat, you have alot of explaining to do!" shouted the angry lion.

"Hehehehehehe....I am really sorry your majesty, it was just a stupid joke." said the rat nervously.

Leo shook his head in disbelief, "You are?"

"Of course!" Isaac reassured him. "I could never be a threat to you. I just want to live and let live."

"Why would you go through all this trouble to say this simple thing?" Leo puzzled.

"It is a custom in my land to play a joke on the king" said the rat.

"That is an awfully weird custom, I must say." The King was puzzled profoundly, but was happy that the whole ordeal was over.

"Again, I am very sorry that I have caused this mess and I will straighten it out," said Isaac. "I must now return and tell everyone that the true king is returning, there will be a great celebration!" he said joyfully.

"I will go with you" said Leo "to show there is no hard feelings."

"That's all right. You rest Leo. I can handle it from here." he winked.

"Thanks, I do need to rest a little after that run." Leo laughed. Isaac laughed as well and turned to return to the jungle. Leo sat down and rested feeling happier now.

As he became more relaxed, he suddenly felt a prick and a shooting pain go up is leg. He roared in pain and was quickly pricked again. Feeling worse now, he glanced over his shoulder to see what was causing him such pain. There certainly were no thorn bushes this far out in the desert. To his horror, he had realized that he was sitting on a Cobra's nest! He fell to the sand and lay there until the cobras ceased their attack and slithered away.

The poison was quickly taking its effect. This was not the life that he had so much cherished, no birds chirping, no tree for shade and no more whimsical dreams. Now he just lay in the scorching heat, watching the vultures in the sky waiting for his death and fading away until he would dream no more.

The last sounds that he would ever hear would be the pitter patter of little feet scurrying away and the deafening proclamation of a little rodent shouting, " I am King, I am King!"

Morals of the story:

• "Treachery comes in all shapes and sizes"
• "Confidence without wisdom is the downfall of greatness."
• "Destroy hostile influence, no matter how harmless it seems, before it destroys you."

| Back to Storytime Page |