The Lion and the Dog

In London there was a zoo. Instead of an entrance fee, people could bring a cat or a dog as food for the animals. A man wanted to see the animals but had no money. He caught a little dog in the street and brought it to the zoo.

They threw the dog into the lion's cage. The dog tucked its tail between its legs and cowered in a corner. The lion came up and sniffed it. The dog rolled onto its back, raised its paws in the air and wagged its tail. The lion turned it over gently with his paw. The dog got up and stood on its hind legs in front of the lion.

The lion looked and looked, turned his head this way and that, but did not touch it. When the keeper brought meat, the lion left a piece for the dog. In the evening the lion lay down to sleep, and the dog laid its head on the lion's paw and slept too.

From that day on the dog lived in the lion's cage. They ate together, slept together, and sometimes even played. One day a gentleman came to the zoo, recognized his dog and wanted it back. When they tried to take the dog out of the cage, the lion roared so fiercely that nobody dared come near.

A year passed. The dog fell ill and died. The lion stopped eating. He sniffed the dog, licked it, nudged it with his paw. Then he threw himself at the bars of the cage, roared and flung himself about. All day it went on. At last he lay down beside the dog and stayed there for five days without moving. On the sixth day the lion died too.

This story is a little sad, but they say it is true. Tolstoy wrote it for this reason: love knows no species, no size, no strength. Even the strongest animal in a cage needs a friend. Tonight, hug someone you love and go to sleep.