Reading Notes: The Giant Crab Part B

Silence is Golden was my favorite story from this reading. There once was a young jackal-lion cub that was very small. His father was a lion while his mother had been a jackal. They fell in love and had the young cub. The cub had taken after his father in looks, an almost identical twin you could say. There was one difference though and it was that his voice took after his mothers. People thought he was a lion cub, as long as he didn't open up his mouth. This young cub loved playing with the other lions, as they were very rambunctious group. They would stumble around all over each other and make a mess of everything.

One day, while they were playing around, the cub thought he could scare all of his friends. So he opened his mouth wide hoping to roar, but could only yell out a yelp like his mother would make. The other young lions were all confused, and didn't know what was going on. They didn't understand what strange sound this young lion cub had made and if he was even a lion. One of the cubs began to make fun of the poor jackal-lion cub, and all the others joined along. They all said mean words and said how much he looked and walked like a lion, but how when he opened his mouth, he was anything but a lion. They all said he was a jackal and nothing more than that. The young jackal-lion cub became very distraught and upset by everyone disowning him, as they began to tell him that he needed to keep his mouth shut for the rest of time. He didn't have a lion's roar so there was no use in ever saying anything. The young cub sulked away in sadness, and learned then to always hold his tongue when in the presence of others who thought they were better.

Source: The Giant Crab, and Other Tales by W. H. D. Rouse


(The Cub: needpix)