By Musa Zafar
There once was a jungle in Africa that was controlled by dumb rulers. Every lion who became the ruler of this jungle adopted strange and absurd rules. One day, a lion from the desert entered the jungle. He defeated the previous ruler and became the new king. The desert lion was not familiar with the habits of the jungle animals, and he issued his own bizarre decree: he ordered the fox to find him another exclusive pond after learning that all the animals in this jungle were eating from the same pond.
After two days, the fox reported that he had found a nearby pond with clean and fresh water. The desert lion instructed the fox to install a plaque on a tree next to the pond that read, “Exclusive Pond for the King.” The command was carried out, and the lion’s selfishness was satisfied. He was pleased that he no longer had to share water with low-class animals.
Several months passed, and one day the lion went to his exclusive pond to drink water. He saw a mouse taking a bath in his pond. The lion became angry and said, “You little mouse! Don’t you see that it reads ‘Exclusive Pond for the King’ here? How dare you bathe here?” The mouse apologized, explaining that due to his lack of education, he couldn’t read the sign. However, the lion didn’t accept his apology and threw the mouse into prison.
The next day, when the lion came to the pond to drink, he saw a deer sitting by the water, washing her children’s diapers. The lion, in frustration, exclaimed, “You foolish deer! Don’t you know that I drink from this pond? How dare you wash your children’s diapers here when it clearly says ‘Exclusive Pond for the King?” The deer apologized, claiming that she has bad eyesight. The lion did not accept her apology and sent her to prison, too.
Only two days later, when the thirsty lion went to the pond, he found a donkey standing in the middle of the pond peeing in the water. The lion pulled the donkey out of the water and angrily demanded an explanation for the insult. The donkey said, “Unlike the mouse and the deer, I don’t lie or make excuses. The truth is, that whenever rulers separate their interests from the people’s, the people protest. You’ve only seen three animals making your pond dirty. In fact, when you go hunting, all the animals come here and pee or throw dirty things into the water. They do it because they don’t have a sense of belonging to this pond.”
When the desert lion realized that he had been drinking dirty water for several months, he sighed and returned to the desert. Every time he saw water, he remembered the animals’ silent protest, and he felt like vomiting. And so, after two weeks, the desert lion succumbed to thirst.
* Musa Zafar is a satirist and journalist.
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