ed in the same manner, he would at least leap toward the hunter,
and try to kill his slayer, before he himself agreed to drop down and
die.

The lion has sometimes been called the King of the Jungle--I suppose
because in those countries where he lives there are no tigers. So the
lion is the "monarch of all he surveys" in his own jungle. Of course,
the lion looks grander and more imposing because he has a mane, and the
tiger has none. Perhaps that is the reason why some people have given
the lion that title.

The lion has also been called a noble animal, but accounts differ as to
his real character. Sometimes a lion has behaved very splendidly, as in
the two stories I shall tell you presently. But, on the other hand,
there have been occasions when a lion has behaved like a coward and a
sneak, as people have declared. So I suppose that lions are like other
creatures: there are good lions, and there are bad lions.

In one respect, however, the lion is much finer than the tiger: the lion
can be tamed, but the tiger cannot. At least, we can say for certain
that many a lion has been known to become quite tame, but never a tiger.

There was an actual case where a tiger was caught as a small cub and
brought up on milk, and then on clean meat without any blood on it. The
tiger grew up, and was thought to be quite tame. Then one day, as he was
licking his master's hand, his rough tongue drew blood from the
hand--and in a moment, at the sight of the blood, the tiger became a
ferocious wild animal.

Luckily, a faithful servant crept from behind with a gun, and suddenly
shot the tiger through the head. The master leaped out of the room at
once, before the tiger could reach him in his dying struggles.

But as for the lion, not only can he be tamed, but even a wild lion has
been known to behave as if quite tame, when moved by his love. I shall
now tell you two stories about that.

CHAPTER XII

The Lion a Noble Animal

_Androcles and the Lion_

Many, many years ago, the Romans ruled a large part of the world; for
they were a great nation. Their territories included the north of
Africa. A rich Roman, who lived there, had many slaves. One of his
slaves was called Androcles (An' dr[=o] cl[=e]z). The Roman treated
Androcles very cruelly. So Androcles ran away from him.

But the Roman sent out many soldiers to capture Androcles. So after
hiding in many places, Androcles was at last compelled to flee into wild
regions,