ErasmusandtheLionI

One fine morning Erasmus was driving alittle donkey along the bank of a river. On thelittledonkey’sbackwasa large jarofwater, fortheyhadjustbeendowntotherivertogetwaterfordinner.

Now Erasmus was a holy monk, and helivedwithmanyothermonksinalargehouseonthehill.

The sunwasveryhot, but thebirds in thetrees were singing sweetly. So, as Erasmuswalkedalong,he,too,begantosing.

Allatonceheheardastrangesound.Itwasnot a bird’s song. It was too loud for that. Thelittle donkey stopped and, throwing up his ears,stood still, looking very much frightened.Erasmusstopped, too.Buthewasnotafraid, for

hewastoogood.Still,hewonderedatthesound.“Dearme!” he said. “What a very strange

sound!Whatdoyousupposeitwas?”Ofcourse,he was talking to himself, for no one else wasnear.

Erasmus looked around, but he sawnothing, so he started oncemore up the hill.Hehad gone but a few stepswhen the sound cameagain.Thistimeitwasasadsound,anditstoppedwithawhine.

The donkey trembled all over, he was sofrightened.Hismastersaid,“Itmustbealion.”

And a lion it was. Just at that minute thegreatheadandtheyelloweyesofalionappearedamong the bushes beside the road. Then, givinghis sad cry again, the lion jumpedout andcametoward good Erasmus, who was holding thedonkeytighttokeephimfromrunningaway.

Hewasaverylargelion,muchlargerthanthe donkey.As he came near, Erasmus saw thathewaslame.Atoncethegoodmanwassorryforthepooranimal,becausehedidnotliketoseeanyof God’s creatures suffer. He went to meet the

lion,andputhishandonhishead.

TheliondidnotjumpatErasmusortrytokillhim,buthelaydownathisfeetandbegantowhine.

“Poor old fellow!” said Erasmus. “Whatmakesyoulame,BrotherLion?”

Thelionshookhisheadandroared.Buthiseyeswerenotfierce.TheylookedupatErasmusas if asking him for help.Then the lion held uphisrightfrontpawandshookit,toshowthatthiswasthelamefoot.

“Liedown, sir,” saidErasmus, just asyouwouldtalktoabigdog.

Thelionlaydown,andErasmustookuphisgreatpawinhishand.Thenhesawalongthorn.Nowonder thepoor lionhad roaredandwhinedinpain.

AsErasmustookoutthethorn,theliondidnotmake a sound.When the thornwas out, thelion looked up into the monk’s face as if hewantedtosay,“Thankyou,kindfriend,Iwillnotforget.”

IIAgain Erasmus and the donkey began to

climb the hill for home. As he walked along,Erasmusheardthesoundofsoftstepsbehindhim.He turned roundandsaw that thegreat lionwas

followinghim.“Suppose he goes all the way home with

me,” thought Erasmus to himself. “What shall Idowithhim?”

Whenhe reachedhome,he took the jarofwater from the donkey’s back. Then he put thedonkeyintothestable.

Asheturnedtogointo thehouse, the lionlaydownathis feetandpulledathisgownwithhis paws, as if to say, “Kind friend, I love youbecauseyoutookthethornoutofmyfoot.Letmestaywithyoualways.”

Erasmus said, “You may stay as long asyouaregood.”

Then he walked into the house. The lionwentbehindhimandlaydownonthefloorlikeakitten,andsoonhewenttosleep.

IIIWherever Erasmus went, Leo, the lion,

wentalso.Bestofall,Leolikedtogototheriverforwater.As the donkeywalked alongwith thejarofwateronhisback,Leowouldrunandjumponthesandandhavegreatfun.

OnedayasErasmuswasonthewaytotheriverwiththedonkeyandthelion,apoormanranouttohimandaskedhimtocomeintohishutandcurehissickbaby.

Ofcourse,Erasmuswasgladtogowiththepoorman.Butbeforehewent,hesaid,“Stayhere,Leo,andwatchthedonkey.”

Now, Leo wished to obey his master, butthedaywashot,andhewassleepy.Helayonthesandbesidethedonkeyandtriedtokeephiseyesopen,but,beforeheknewit,hewasasleep.

The foolish donkey soon grew tired ofstandingbeside the sleeping lion, sooffhewenttogetabiteofgreengrass.Asheate,hewalkedfartherandfartherawayfromthelion.

Byandbyacameldrivercamealongwithabandofhorsesandcamelsanddonkeys.Hewastakingthemtoacountryfaraway.

“What a fine little donkey!” he cried. “Ishalltakehimalongwithme.”

With that, the camel driver took thewaterjar off the donkey’s back and then drove thedonkeyawayinfrontofhim.

Now the noise woke Leo. He jumped upwitha roar just in time to see thecameldriver’sfaceashewentover thehill.Buthedidnot seethedonkey.Aroundandaroundhe ran, smellingtheair,buthecouldnot findhis friend.Thenhestood by the water jar and roared with all hismight.

When Erasmus came out and saw Leostandingbeside thewater jar, and found that thedonkeywasgone,hethoughtLeohadeatenhim.

“You wicked lion!” he cried. “You haveeatenmypoordonkey.WhatshallIdo?”

But Leo only roared louder. He could nottalkandtellhismasterwhathadhappened.

Erasmus was very sad. “You will have tobemy donkey now,” he said. “Come, stand up,andletmetiethewaterjaruponyourback.”

Leohunghisheadandstoodstillwhilethegoodmonk tied thewater jar uponhis back.Hewasashamed todoadonkey’swork, forhewastheKing of Beasts.Hewas sadder still to thinkthathismasterwasangrywithhim.

Whentheyreachedhome,Erasmustoldthe

storytotheothermonks.They,too,saidthatLeowouldhavetotakethedonkey’splaceandgoforwatereveryday.

Thiswas a sad time forLeo.He could nolongersleepinthehouse,buthadtobetiedinthestable.Howhewishedthathecouldtalkandtellhismasterthathehaddonenowrong!Buthewasonlyalion,andallhecoulddowasroarorwhine.

Many months passed by. Leo was stilldoingthedonkey’swork.

OnedayErasmustookLeotoalittletown.The goodmanwished to buy food in the town.Then hewould tie it upon Leo’s back, and Leowouldcarryithome.

ErasmusboughtthefoodandwasputtingitintobasketswhenheheardLeogivealoudgrowl.Lookingup,hesawalongtrainofhorses,camels,anddonkeysgoingby.

Leohad seen the faceof thecameldriver,andheknewthemanwastheonewhohadtakenthepoordonkey.

Thelionrantowardthecameldriver,butashewenthesawhisoldfriend,thedonkey.

With a roar and a jump he caught at thedonkey’s bridle and led the poor frightenedanimaltoErasmus.

ThenErasmusknewthetruth.Helookedatthedonkeywell.Whilehedidso,thelionlookedupathimandgrowledasiftosay,“Hereisyourolddonkey,safeandsound.YouseeIdidnoteathimafterall.Thereistherealthief.”And,turningtoward the camel driver, the lion roared andlooked so fierce that the poor man ran away asfastashecouldgo.

“This ismydonkey,” thegoodmonksaid,“andIshalltakehimhomewithme.”

Thenhe tied thebasketsupon thedonkey,who was happy to be once more with his old

master.“MypooroldLeo!”saidErasmus.“Ihave

not been kind to you, but now I know you arefaithful.”

Thenthethreesetoutforhome,andallthewayErasmuskepthishanduponthelion’shead.

How happy Leowas to know that he andhisdearmasterwerefriendsoncemore!

Leo lived with the good monk for many,many years, and he was always a good andfaithfulfriend.

-CATHOLICFOLKLORE