The Lion and the Three Bulls

Three bulls ate together, slept together and walked together. Side by side they crossed the meadow, with their horns all facing out.

In the long grass lay a lion, watching them at dawn and watching them at noon. His belly growled, but he did not dare go near. One bull he could fight. Three bulls would toss him over the hedge.

So he began to whisper. When one bull wandered off, the lion crept up to him. "The others say you are slow," he whispered. He found the second alone. "The others eat all the sweet grass," he whispered. He found the third. "You would be better off on your own," he whispered.

A word here and a word there, and day by day the bulls began to glare at one another. One morning the first bull stamped off to the wood. The second climbed the hill, and the third stayed down by the stream.

The lion stood up and stretched. He went to the wood first and up the hill next. Then, in no hurry at all, he strolled down to the stream.

One bull. Two bulls. Three. He took his time over each one.