A lion once made friends with a hyena. Their friendship had began in this way, the lion once caught a prey and a starving hyena, not far from him begged, "Pray, spare your poor friend a share in your bounty."
The lion, naturally was surprised, as few animals dared approach him. Thus, he had few friends, and so out of pity for this hyena he willingly spared some leftovers for the hyena to eat.
Over and over again, this pattern repeated itself.
So, one day the lion invited the hyena to partake of the meal with him, saying:
"You call me friend, what kind of friend would I be if we cannot eat together? It is not right for my friend to eat from my leftovers." So they began to ate side by side, each to his satisfaction.
As time progressed, the lion made it a habit of bringing his catch before the hyena, inviting him to feast with him.
However, there soon came a week, when the lion made no catch, he was starving and greatly desired food.
Luckily, he managed to see his hyena friend feasting on an antelope from afar, he rejoiced. "My good works will finally pay off, my dear friend will not forget my kindness to him."
The hyena on seeing the approaching lion, gobbled up the remains of the meal. The lion on arriving, fumed.
"You have done me, your friend a great wrong! Are you not ashamed of yourself? "
"Friend?" The hyena burst into a long derisive laughter that was typical of hyenas.
"I was friends with you as long as it was beneficial to me. As long as you brought food, I was willingly to befriend you. But now, I see nothing to gain from you, why should I be your friend? No good comes from befriending the hungry."
I suppose if you were wondering why lions aren't so fond of hyenas, you might now have a clue why.
Times of difficulty often reveal the fiends disguised as friends
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THE TAPESTRY OF FABLES
Short StoryA collection of captivating fables, illuminating as they are amusing. It's totally worth reading.
