Der Löwe mit der besonders schönen langen Mähne

Abstract

This is a long and enjoyable development of a Kalila and Dimna story usually told about a hare and a lion. Here a mouse takes the place of the hare. At least in some versions of Kalila and Dimna, the story has to do with regulated sacrifice. Here the inciting incident is that the mouse not only does not proclaim You are the king of the animals but even says out loud You are not the strongest. The mouse then, when he has the lion's attention, cleverly says that he is sad because the lion will not much longer be king. He gets the lion to be inquisitive about this stronger competitor. The mouse even asks the king if he might be afraid of this competitor, and all the animals recognize that the lion lies in his answer. The mouse then offers to help the lion by showing him the way to this competitor. The lion rejects that offer, since it would take days to get there; of course he then offers to take the mouse on his back. The lion has overnight to think about it -- and of course to let his fear increase. In this version, the mouse throws a little stone into the well to make the lion there move and seem to swim. The best illustration of a strongly illustrated book comes next as the lion is absolutely perpendicular to the horizon in his dive into the well. At last the animals have quiet, but do not know that it has come from a mouse.