His mother in the eyes of a lion

A boy of ten went to visit his maternal uncle who lived in the country. There was a chain of mountains nearby — about two and a half miles away. The boy was extremely fond of roaming in these mountains.

It was about two o’clock one afternoon. The boy’s friends were all in school, so he decided to go for a walk alone on one of the mountains. He had been to that mountain many times accompanied by his friends and relatives. This time, being alone, he got more joy from his adventure, so he roamed further and further until he was in the thick of the mountain, which was covered with a dense forest. Formerly, when he had gone with his friends and relatives they had wandered only through the outskirts, as these were most accessible.

The boy was very fond of a certain kind of fruit called Jujub. There were many Jujub trees in the forest, so he climbed one of them and ate to his fill. When he climbed down, — lo and behold facing him, only ten feet away, was a mountain lion! He and the lion were face to face.

The immediate reaction of the boy, even to this day, remains indeterminate. The lion, far from showing a ferocious look, was all mildness. Furthermore, the boy saw his own mother’s face reflected in the lion’s eyes, although his mother was in his home village, six miles away.

This scene lasted for several minutes. Seeing his mother in the eyes of the lion, the boy felt no fear and raised no cry. He was calm and serene. The more he looked into the lion’s eyes, the greater was the affectionate feeling he was receiving from the lion.

Very slowly, after about five minutes, the boy started to move away, turning his back to the lion and walking toward his destination. After covering a reasonable distance — perhaps a quarter of a mile - at a slow and cautious gait, he turned back to see if the lion was following him. There was no sign of the animal. Then the boy took to his heels and ran for dear life.

He covered a mile in a short time — crying and shouting for help with, “Save me! Save me! I saw a lion!” When he finally came to his aunt’s house he was trembling and screaming. His aunt felt as though he had died and had come back to life by some miracle. Some of the villagers showed sympathy, others scolded, others mocked. She was holding him as though he had been killed by the lion.

Although it had been decided that the boy would go back home after spending four days at his uncle’s home, his mother arrived quite unexpectedly that day. While she was having her siesta, she had seen in a dream that her youngest son was attacked and killed by a lion. She came with her servant to her brother’s home, practically insane with grief, assuming that her son had died.

The poor boy was practically bathed in a sea of tears shed by mother and aunt in their joy at seeing him alive and safe.