THE WOODPECKER AND THE LION
: More Jataka TalesOne day while a Lion was eating his dinner a bone stuck in his throat.
It hurt so that he could not finish his dinner. He walked up and down,
up and down, roaring with pain.
A Woodpecker lit on a branch of a tree near-by, and hearing the Lion,
she said, "Friend, what ails you?" The Lion told the Woodpecker what
the matter was, and the Woodpecker said: "I would take the bone out of
your throat, friend, but
for fear I might never get it out again. I am afraid you might eat me"
"O Woodpecker, do not be afraid," the Lion said. "I will not eat you.
Save my life if you can!"
"I will see what I can do for you," said the Woodpecker. "Open your
mouth wide." The Lion did as he was told, but the Woodpecker said to
himself: "Who knows what this Lion will do? I think I will be
careful."
So the Woodpecker put a stick between the Lion's upper and lower jaws
so that he could not shut his mouth.
Then the Woodpecker hopped into the Lion's mouth and hit the end of
the bone with his beak. The second time he hit it, the bone fell out.
The Woodpecker hopped out of the Lion's mouth, and hit the stick so
that it too fell out. Then the Lion could shut his mouth.
At once the Lion felt very much better, but not one word of thanks did
he say to the Woodpecker.
One day later in the summer, the Woodpecker said to the Lion, "I want
you to do something for me."
"Do something for you?" said the Lion. "You mean you want me to do
something more for you. I have already done a great deal for you. You
cannot expect me to do anything more for you. Do not forget that once
I had you in my mouth, and I let you go. That is all that you can ever
expect me to do for you."
The Woodpecker said no more, but he kept away from the Lion from that
day on.
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