The Lion
Once there was a lioness who was delivering a cub on a steep hill side. The newborn cub fell down the slope onto a path where a flock of sheep were crossing. Naturally, he mixed with the sheep, lived with the sheep, and learnt to eat, walk and behave like the sheep. The sheep spoke to him in their language, to which he responded and slowly became accustomed.
Throughout his life, sheep were around him. He had never roared like a lion, as sheep do not roar. He had never hunted like a lion, as sheep do not hunt. He had never been alone like the lion, as sheep are scared of being alone. So scared are they of of being alone that they never leave the coziness and comfort of the flock, and walk in such a congested manner that sometimes they end up trampling one another. He would happily spend the major part of the day eating grass and bleating with them.
As the lion grew older, his peers started noticing his changing and obviously different body structure. His friends called him a freak of nature, while some wise old sheep called it a natural phenomena, and others comforted him by saying that they will help him get over his insecurity of being what he was becoming.
One day an old lion came out to hunt, and upon witnessing the sight of this lion among sheep, he stood in bewilderment. So astonished was he, that for a moment he forgot he was hunting. As he walked towards the flock, the young lion ran out of fear as such was his learned instinct. He chased him, but as the other lion was younger and faster, he grew tired and called out to him to stop. The young lion shouted 'What do you want from a poor sheep?' The older lion asked him to stop this nonsense, and to follow him to a nearby pond, which he did out of fear of not being eaten.
The lion showed him his reflection in the pond alongside his own, and asked him to observe. Then, in a moment of knowing, the lion roared like never before, scaring away the sheep while realizing his own self.
