In a big rainy jungle lived a mighty lion king. He roared so loud that trees shook!
His son was a little cub named Grizzle.
But Grizzle was not like his father. Grizzle was soft and kind.
One day, Grizzle saw a rabbit mother. He could have caught her easily. But she was hiding her tiny babies under a leaf. Grizzle just smiled and walked away.
Another day, he found a baby goat, all alone. “Too small to be my dinner,” said Grizzle, and he let her go too. His father, the King Lion, was FURIOUS. “A lion who doesn’t hunt? Impossible!” he roared.
But Grizzle didn’t change. One day, he even caught a baby deer! Everyone watched, waiting… but Grizzle looked into her scared little eyes, and let her run free.
Suddenly — WHOOSH!
The deer’s father charged in, thinking Grizzle had hurt his child. He butted Grizzle hard with his horns! Grizzle went tumbling, covered in scratches and bruises.
The King Lion came running, worried and huffing. “Grizzle! Look at you! You are supposed to be feared, not head-butted by a DEER!” He paced back and forth, grumbling, “My son, the Terror of the Jungle… terrorized by a goat’s cousin!” He sighed so hard his whiskers wiggled.
“What next — will a butterfly beat you up too?”
Grizzle just gave a little smile through his scratches.
That evening, Father Lion heard a funny noise from the bushes. He crept close to look. There sat a monkey, a rabbit, a fox, and a squirrel — all singing and dancing together:
“Grizzle, Grizzle, gentle and kind,
The softest lion you’ll ever find!
He won’t chase, he won’t bite,
He just wants to say goodnight!”
Father Lion stared at them, mouth wide open.
“…What in the world is THIS?” he grumbled, shaking his big shaggy head.
And that was that.
The End .