A wise old african man told me this compelling fable he was told as a child by his father who had inturn heard it from his father.
I think he was lieing to me.
The story of lion, porcupine, and raven.
Many moons ago, deep in the jungles of mother africa, and long before the days of man, lion reigned supreme. and every morning lion would play chess with porcupine. and every morning porcupine would win. this enraged lion for he was unarguably the master of the jungle. so how was it that this small rodent could consistently beat him at chess?
" a good defense is the best offense " is all that porcupine would say before he waddled away chuckling under his breath.
this morning was not unlike any other morning. porcupine waddled slowly up the hill to where lion quietly waited. and by noon lion had lost again. porcupine laughed
" HA! its like I always say lion, a good defense is the best offense " and once again he waddled down the hill, chuckling under his breath.
today was different however because raven nolonger sat up high watching this game. when it was over raven landed beside lion and whispered in his ear.
" if you wish to defeat porcupine you must use your claws and your teeth"
" but his quills will stick me" said lion
" then you shall use your other hand" said raven
" then I will have quills in both hands " said lion
" then you shall use your third and fourth hands, and keep hitting him untill he is out of quills, surely he cannot fit an endless number of quills on such a small frame? "
" you are right!" exclaimed lion " I will hit him and I will ignore the pain untill he has no more quills left to defend with"
"yes"said raven " and then i will swoop down and take him to my nest to eat. when I am done I will return to remove the quills from your paws with my beak, then YOU will be the greatest chess player in the jungle"
" excellent idea raven" said lion.
and as the sun rose the next day lion sat on top the hill with an unusual smirk on his face. raven sat, perched atop a nearby tree, and porcupine waddled up the hill.
when the game was done porcupine laughed "HA!... a good defense is the best offense"
at which point lion roared and swiped at porcupine. quills filled lions mighty paw and porcupine laughed "HA! in life, as in chess the best..." but before he could finish lion swiped again, and again, and lion bit at porcupine, and in a matter of minutes lions paws were completely filled with quills, and his mouth was completely filled with quills and porcupine lay on the ground naked. "HA!" laughed porcupine " now you can no longer attack because of my defense, once again prooving that... " but before he could finish raven swooped down and carried porcupine off to his nest for lunch.
as the sun began to set lion became worried that raven was not going to return. his paws and mouth were hurting very badly, and he was fatigued from not eating all day.
just as the sun was setting raven returned
" oh raven, I thought you would never return" exclaimed lion " now please, remove these quills from my paws and mouth " and raven hopped over to lions head and whispered
" actually, I just came back to eat your eyeballs and genitals "
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