28 lines
1.8 KiB
Plaintext
28 lines
1.8 KiB
Plaintext
THE LION AND THE MOSQUITO
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Once upon a time . . . a tiny mosquito started to buzz round a lion he met.
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"Go away!" grumbled the sleepy lion, smacking his own cheek in an attempt to
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drive the insect away.
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"Why should I?" demanded the mosquito. "You're king of the jungle, not of
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the air! I'll fly wherever I want and land wherever I please." And so saying,
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he tickled the lion's ear. In the hope of crushing the insect, the lion boxed
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his own ears, but the mosquito slipped away from the now dazed lion.
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"I don't feel it any more. Either it's squashed or it's gone away." But at
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that very moment, the irritating buzz began again, and the mosquito flew into
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the lion's nose. Wild with rage, the lion leapt to his hind legs and started
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to rain punches on his own nose. But the insect, safe inside, refused to
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budge. With a swollen nose and watery eyes, the lion gave a terrific sneeze,
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blasting the mosquito out. Angry at being dislodged so abruptly, the mosquito
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returned to the attack: BUZZ . . . BUZZZ! . . . it whizzed round the lion's
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head. Large and tough as the lion was, he could not rid himself of his tiny
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tormenter. This made him angrier still, and he roared fiercely. At the sound
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of his terrible voice, all the forest creatures fled in fear, but paying no
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heed to the exhausted lion, the mosquito said triumphantly: "There you are,
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king of the jungle! Foiled by a tiny mosquito like me!" And highly delighted
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with his victory, off he buzzed. But he did not notice a spider's web hanging
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close by, and soon he was turning and twisting, trying to escape from the trap
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set by a large spider. "Bah!" said the spider in disgust, as he ate it.
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"Another tiny mosquito. Not much to get excited about, but better than
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nothing. I was hoping for something more substantial..."
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And that's what became of the mosquito that foiled the lion!
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