The lion was proud of his position as “king of the jungle”. One day he decided to be SURE that all the other animals knew that HE was the king. He started with a monkey.
“Who is the king of the jungle?” and the monkey chattered, “You are! You are! You are!”
The lion let out a mighty roar of approval.
Next was a tiger, to whom he asked the same question. The tiger bowed down and said,
“Everyone knows that you are, oh mighty lion!”
As the lion strutted away, he saw an old bull elephant. “Who is the king of the jungle?” he demanded of the elephant.
The elephant immediately grabbed the lion with his trunk, whirled him around in the air ten times and slammed him into a tree. Then he pounded him into the ground with his feet, gored him with his ivory tusks, and finally threw him in the watering hole.
The lion – bruised, battered and beaten – struggled to his feet. “Look”, he told the elephant, “Just because you don’t know the answer is no reason to get upset.”