At night, however, _all_ animals of the Cat Tribe are dangerous, and many a night a lion has been known to creep into an encampment and carry off a sleeping man. That is, the lion first killed the man, then _dragged_ him away.
In that respect a lion is different from a tiger. A lion usually takes away his prey by _dragging_ it; he grips his victim in his jaws by an arm, or by the shoulder, or by the neck, so that the victim trails along the ground.
A lion once seized a sleeping man by the wrist, and dragged him away.
The lion thought that he had killed the man. But the man was still alive. He got up on his feet as he was being dragged away. He _walked_ by the side of the lion for a few yards; meanwhile he drew his revolver from his pocket with the other hand, and then shot the lion through the head, killing him instantly.
A lion seldom carries his prey _bodily_ as a cat carries a mouse. A tiger always does that, if the prey is light, like a man; and a heavier prey he actually carries over his shoulder--as I have said on page 103.
From all the facts I have told you so far, you will understand that a tiger is stronger than a lion. It has been reckoned that the strength of a lion is equal to that of five men, but a tiger"s strength is equal to that of eight men. How that was calculated I shall tell you in another book.
A tiger is also much more ferocious and terrible an animal than a lion.
The lion can be hunted on horseback; the tiger must never be hunted in this way. A hunter riding a horse has often come to within a hundred yards of a lion, and has killed the lion with one or two shots from his gun--and the horse has stood quite still while he took aim.
But a horse will never face a tiger or stand still before a tiger. The horse will be in a panic at the very sight of a tiger--and will flee in terror. Even if a band of hors.e.m.e.n meet a tiger, all the horses will stampede in terror. It needs an elephant--a trained elephant--to face a tiger, as I have already described to you. And usually it needs several elephants to _hunt_ a tiger.
The tiger has also many more of the catlike qualities than the lion has.
The tiger is more active than the lion, can leap farther, and can make up his mind more quickly. Above all, like a cat, the tiger has "nine lives." Many a time a hunter has killed a lion with a single shot. But usually it needs half a dozen shots even to disable a tiger.
If a lion is mortally wounded through the heart or through the head, he usually drops to the ground at once. But if a tiger were mortally wounded in the same manner, he would at least leap toward the hunter, and try to kill his slayer, before he himself agreed to drop down and die.
The lion has sometimes been called the King of the Jungle--I suppose because in those countries where he lives there are no tigers. So the lion is the "monarch of all he surveys" in his own jungle. Of course, the lion looks grander and more imposing because he has a mane, and the tiger has none. Perhaps that is the reason why some people have given the lion that t.i.tle.
The lion has also been called a n.o.ble animal, but accounts differ as to his real character. Sometimes a lion has behaved very splendidly, as in the two stories I shall tell you presently. But, on the other hand, there have been occasions when a lion has behaved like a coward and a sneak, as people have declared. So I suppose that lions are like other creatures: there are good lions, and there are bad lions.
In one respect, however, the lion is much finer than the tiger: the lion can be tamed, but the tiger cannot. At least, we can say for certain that many a lion has been known to become quite tame, but never a tiger.
There was an actual case where a tiger was caught as a small cub and brought up on milk, and then on clean meat without any blood on it. The tiger grew up, and was thought to be quite tame. Then one day, as he was licking his master"s hand, his rough tongue drew blood from the hand--and in a moment, at the sight of the blood, the tiger became a ferocious wild animal.
Luckily, a faithful servant crept from behind with a gun, and suddenly shot the tiger through the head. The master leaped out of the room at once, before the tiger could reach him in his dying struggles.
But as for the lion, not only can he be tamed, but even a wild lion has been known to behave as if quite tame, when moved by his love. I shall now tell you two stories about that.
CHAPTER XII
The Lion a n.o.ble Animal
_Androcles and the Lion_
Many, many years ago, the Romans ruled a large part of the world; for they were a great nation. Their territories included the north of Africa. A rich Roman, who lived there, had many slaves. One of his slaves was called Androcles (An" dr[=o] cl[=e]z). The Roman treated Androcles very cruelly. So Androcles ran away from him.
But the Roman sent out many soldiers to capture Androcles. So after hiding in many places, Androcles was at last compelled to flee into wild regions, where there were few inhabitants. As the soldiers followed him even there, he had to go still farther into the interior of the country, till he came to the jungle. There he lived by eating fruits.
One day, toward evening, he was sitting on the ground, when suddenly he saw a lion before him. Poor Androcles gave himself up for lost, as he had no weapon with him with which even to try to fight the lion. He knew it was useless to try to run away, as the lion could catch him with a couple of bounds. So he thought that his only chance was to sit quite still, for then the lion _might_ go away.
But the lion looked at him, and then came toward him. The animal did not rush toward him or leap. Instead, the lion just walked toward Androcles.
That was strange, Androcles thought. The lion came nearer and nearer--and then Androcles noticed that the lion walked in a peculiar manner. That puzzled Androcles. But he sat quite still, hoping that the lion would yet go away.
But instead the lion came right up to him. _Now_ he would be eaten up, poor Androcles thought.
Then a wonderful thing happened. Instead of eating him, the lion held out a paw toward him. Then Androcles understood.
He looked at the lion"s paw closely. He saw that the paw was swollen.
Yes, that is why the lion had been _limping_.
Androcles took the paw in his hands and examined it. On the under side he found a large thorn embedded deep in the flesh. It must have been there for several days, and must have caused the lion intense pain.
Androcles pulled out the thorn carefully; then he squeezed down the swelling. That relieved the lion"s pain.
Immediately the lion showed his grat.i.tude. He wagged his tail, fawned on Androcles, and gambolled around him playfully like a dog. He could not do more to show his feelings.
After a time the lion went away to the jungle.
A year pa.s.sed. Androcles still lived in hiding. Then at last he was captured by the soldiers, and brought before the judge.
It used to be the law in those days to condemn runaway slaves to death.
Also, it used to be the custom to put to death Christians and condemned slaves by casting them to lions.
So one afternoon all the Romans in that place were gathered to make a holiday. It was a kind of circus they had come to see, only, instead of having the usual clever tricks which you now see in a circus, the Romans had fights between men and men, between men and animals--and finally, as a grand finish, the Christians and the condemned slaves were thrown to wild lions. Many of the lions had recently been captured from the jungle; so they were quite wild. And as they had been kept without food for two or three days on purpose, they were very ferocious and quite eager to eat the Christians and the condemned slaves.
When it came Androcles" turn to be eaten, he was thrown into the enclosure, which was called an arena. Then a wild lion, which had been recently caught from the jungle, was let loose into the arena from a cage.
Ten thousand Romans looked on to see Androcles die. And Androcles looked up to the Romans, and found no mercy in them. He looked at the famished and furious lion--and knew that he must die.
For the lion crouched ten yards before him, lashing his tail in fury.
The lion gave a bound, and came within five yards of Androcles. There the lion crouched again for a moment--then made a rush at Androcles.
Everyone thought that _now_ the lion would kill Androcles.
But a still more wonderful thing happened. Instead of killing Androcles, the lion gambolled around him, and fawned on him--as if he were glad to meet again an old friend.
Then Androcles understood. He had forgotten all about the lion he had met in the jungle the year before, whose pain he had relieved. But the lion had not forgotten _him_.
Who says that animals have no memory? This lion had a memory! He carried in his memory the grat.i.tude of his heart for the pain that Androcles had relieved. Although Androcles was now dressed differently--in fact, most of his clothes had been stripped from him--the moment the lion had drawn near enough to him, he had recognized Androcles as his old friend and benefactor of the jungle.
Famished as he was, and furious at being kept without food, the lion would gladly suffer the pangs of hunger rather than injure a hair of his friend"s head. Instead, the lion fawned on him, then lay down before him like a lamb.
Then something melted in the cruel Romans" hearts; perhaps they realized that there was some Great Power beyond them, who had inspired a raging beast of the jungle to be as gentle as a lamb.
The Romans asked Androcles to explain this marvel. He told the story of his adventure with that lion in the jungle--just as I have told it to you.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Androcles and the Lion]
Then Androcles was pardoned, and given his freedom, in memory of this great wonder.