The Lion and the Mosquito
The Lion and the Mosquito
Once upon a time there lived a tiny and particularly pesky mosquito. Although, of course, all mosquitoes are noted for being nuisances, this one was even worse than the others. Every day, he chose a different animal to bother. One day, he decided to torment a bird in the jungle. He whizzed relentlessly around the colorful, feathered fellow.
“Who is bothering me?” squawked the bird. He could hear the whirring but was unable to see the mosquito since the pesky creature was buzzing around so quickly.
“It's me, a little mosquito. Small but mighty, I say!”
The mosquito continued whirring and whizzing and being a nuisance. Finally, he bit the poor feathered creature and flew off laughing at his own bothersome behavior.
The next day, the mosquito decided to pick on a particularly graceful gazelle.
The gazelle tried to lope away but had no luck. The pesky mosquito continued to buzz after him.
“Who is this bothering me?” asked the troubled gazelle.
“It is none other than a tiny mosquito. Surely, you thought a creature as small as I am could never bother you, but you were wrong!” said the mosquito, as he continued to buzz and whir around the beleaguered gazelle.
Finally, the mosquito made one final passing buzz at the gazelle, bit him on the nose, and flew away quickly, smiling because he'd been such a bother.
The next day, pleased with his success, the mosquito decided to taunt an even larger target: a hippopotamus. So, off he went whirring and buzzing over muddy ponds where hippos were wading. Finally, he eyed his target: an impressively large, rather fierce-looking hippo.
The hippo, though, was really a gentle sort and wondered mildly what could possibly be bothering him. Not one to stir up trouble, the hippo tried to ignore the constant buzzing and whizzing, but finally he'd had enough.
“Who is that bothering me?” he called out.
In answer, that rude mosquito buzzed yet again.
Well, this was almost more than the gentle hippo could stand.
“Why, it is just a small mosquito,” answered the pesky creature. “I couldn't be bothering a hulky fellow like you, could I?”
“As a matter of fact, you are,” answered the hippo, “and I'd appreciate it if you'd just leave me alone.”
“I'll leave you alone after I bite you on the snout!” And that's just what the mosquito did. He then flew off, gleeful at his success.
The mosquito then decided that there was really only one animal left in the jungle to conquer: the king of them all, the lion.
So, as before, the bothersome pest started to buzz around the jungle, looking for a lion to annoy. He spotted several before he found the perfect target: a particularly grand-looking lion with a massive mane and an impressive roar.
Down buzzed the mosquito, whirring around the lion's face.
Finally, the lion, who had been sleeping, grumbled, “Go away! Who is bothering me, anyway?”
“Well, well, King of the Jungle,” laughed the mosquito. “It is just a lowly mosquito. Surely I am not bothering you!”
“Yes, you are. Now go away before I do something to you,” roared the lion.
The mosquito, though, paid no attention to the lion's words and continued to buzz around the lion's great head.
Finally, the lion grew tired of this insect. He used his giant, powerful paw to smack his own cheek in an attempt to drive the pesky insect away.
“I mean it,” roared the lion, his cheek smarting from the blow he'd given himself. “You leave me alone
“Why should I?” demanded the pesky mosquito. “You're king of the jungle, not of the air! I'll fly wherever I want and land wherever I please. So there.” And with this, he boldly tickled the lion's ear.
This made the lion very angry and in the hope of crushing the tiny insect, the lion pawed at his own ears, but the mosquito was quick and sly and he slipped away from the dazed and irritated lion.
“Finally, it's gone,” thought the lion. “I don't feel it any more, thank goodness. Either it is squashed or it has gone away.”
But the lion spoke too soon, for at that very moment, the irritating
This went on for some time until the lion had a swollen nose and watery eyes. The mosquito buzzed around a bit in the lion's nose, causing the king of the jungle to give a terrific sneeze, blowing the mosquito right out. Angry at being dislodged so abruptly, the mosquito returned to the attack:
Although the lion was large and tough, he could not get rid of this tiny troublemaker. The more he thought about this, the angrier he became. The lion roared fiercely.
At the sound of his terrible, frightening voice, all of the forest creatures fled quickly in fear. But the mosquito paid no attention to the exhausted lion. Instead, the mosquito said triumphantly, “There you are, King of the Jungle! Beaten by a lowly, tiny mosquito like me!”
And highly delighted with his victory, off he buzzed for a victory flight.
“So,” gloated the mosquito as he buzzed high above the lush jungle, “I am mightier than all of the jungle animals. I even beat the king of the jungle!”
But, while the mosquito was so busy gloating, he did not notice a spider web hanging close by, and became stuck in it. Once stuck, the pesky insect began turning and twisting, trying to escape from the trap set by a large spider.
“Oh,” he thought, “how could this happen to me? I've just beaten the king of the jungle and now I am captured by one of the jungle's smallest creatures, a simple spider!”
To be fair, the spider didn't think much of the mosquito either and was rather unimpressed to find it stuck in his web.
“Yuck!” said the spider in disgust, as he ate it up. “Another tiny mosquito. Not much to get excited about, but better than nothing, I guess. I was hoping for something better and a little more filling.”
And, so, the gloating of the mosquito turned out to be a bit premature. For he may have beaten the lion, but that really didn't get him very far, did it?
