The Tree and the Lion

Once there was a tree. It was an old tree, a tree that gave life to many things around it. At the base of that tree, a lion liked to rest, shaded and hidden out of sight.

The tree thought a lot about the Lion. Mostly because all the other animals often talked about the lion. They called it the king of the land. The tree noticed that they didn't talk about it that way. They either ignored it, or complained about it. It was in the way, the bark was too rough, it had too many leaves, it didn't have enough leaves... and so on.

Over time the tree longed to be like the lion: to hunt for food rather to be at the mercy of the earth and sun, to assert itself loudly instead of sending slow, silent vibrations through the ground. So it looked to the lion in hopes of learning from it.

--

One day, the tree asked the lion, "lion, how can I be more like you?"

The lion said, "to be like me, you have to move quickly."

The tree thought about that. It could move, but only very slowly and carefully. Many animals made the tree their home, and any big movement could have consequences. So the tree said, "what else?"

The lion said, "to be like me, you need a loud roar."

The tree thought about that. Its voice was soft and slow, with silent messages travelling through the earth over complicated networks of roots. It couldn't think of a way to change that. So it said, "what else?"

The lion rolled his eyes. "I've given you so much advice but you don't take it. You are not even trying! So I will give you one more piece of advice, but that's it."

The tree felt ashamed. I must work harder to be like the lion, it thought. I am too old and slow.

The lion said, "to be like me, you need to hunt many gazelle. It is the best thing a lion can do. It's what all living things will be doing in the future."

That didn't sound easy but the tree really wanted to be like the lion. "I would like to do that, but I don't move very fast. What can I do?"

The lion said, "it's easy. I can see your branches can move a bit, so tell every branch that they should catch 5 gazelle by the next full moon. Then ask them every day how many they have caught and what they are doing to catch more. Make sure they are always thinking about gazelle."

So the tree did. It checked in with every branch every day. Every branch made a different plan to catch gazelle. Some talked about using the tree's sap to slow the gazelle, some grew new branches to make a trap, some asked the nearby spiders to set up webs to catch them.

But by the next full moon, no gazelles had been caught. And for three moons after that, still no gazelle were caught.

After a while, the tree overheard the lion talking about how terrible trees are at catching gazelle. Then it overheard other animals saying this too. Eventually, even the gazelle were laughing at the tree. The tree branches started arguing with each other.

But here's what the tree didn't hear: the leaves at the end of the branches were trying to tell the tree how many animals and insects had fed there, and how many more were going to come tomorrow. They asked the tree to start growing some more buds.

But the tree couldn't hear them, because the branches were very long.

So the leaves told the branches to tell the tree, but the branches just sighed. 'Buds won't help us catch gazelle!' they said.

So nothing changed.

--

One hot day, the lion was lounging by its favourite watering hole when it had a thought: I wish that tree was over here so I could relax in the shade and not have to walk so far. Maybe it could even bring some small animals for me to eat. The more it thought about it, the more lion was impressed with this brilliant idea. It made so much sense!

So the lion visited the tree and said, "tree, you must move over to this watering hole right away. It's the best watering hole. All the trees are going there."

The tree sighed sadly and said, "I cannot move. My roots are stuck in the ground. I'm heavy and I have lots of branches."

The lion said, "this is no problem! I will use my paws to dig out your roots, and then I'll use my incredible strength to drag you over there. I don't mind at all!"

The tree thought this did not sound like a good idea, but it didn't want to anger the lion. "Thank you, but this place is where I'm supposed to be, there are animals and insects here that need me. Plus, you don't know how to move trees!"

The tree was right, the lion had never moved a tree before. But the tree didn't know that, so it didn't say anything. Besides, the lion had done other difficult things before. Being the head of a lion pride was difficult! Hunting a giraffe was difficult! This wasn't difficult.

So the lion said, "that would be a terrible decision! I hate to tell you this, but this place is slowly dying and you don't want to be the only one left behind. All the other trees are going there. You can trust me, I know what I'm doing."

The tree said, "but what about the animals and insects?"

The lion declared confidently: "It will be better for them by the watering hole. In fact, they will be upset if you don't move. If you cared about the animals and insects, you would move. You owe it to them."

The tree thought that the lion was much smarter and more accomplished than the tree, so it must know what it was talking about, and maybe the animals and insects would be better off near the watering hole. They might even thank the tree and say nice things about it for once!

So the tree let the lion dig around its roots, until the lion got tired and went away to sleep, promising to come back tomorrow.

--

That night, the owl who lived in the tree woke up and saw the hole at the base of the tree. "What happened?" the owl asked.

"The lion is moving me over to the watering hole because it's the best place to be. All the other trees are going there and if I don't go too, I'll be left behind," the tree explained.

The owl gasped. "Is that really true?" The tree nodded.

"Do you trust that lion?" the owl asked.

"Of course!" the tree exclaimed. "Lions are smarter than trees, everyone knows that. All the lions say so. Even the gazelle think so. The lion knows what it is doing. It's doing this because it cares about the animals. The lion is just being helpful."

The owl thought about that. "Do lions know how to move trees?" it wondered out loud.

"Of course! Lions are much smarter than trees! They catch many gazelle, and my branches haven't caught any!" the tree lamented.

The owl sighed. "But, you don't eat gazelle. Why are you counting gazelle?"

The tree had no answer for that, so it was quiet.

The leaves had something to say, but they were still too far down the branches for the tree to hear them.

The insects and the animals living near the tree also had something to say, but they were worried the tree might stop feeding them. And anyway, they didn't really know how to speak tree.

But the owl knew how to speak tree, so it did.

The owl explained that though they are both living things, trees are a very different type of living thing from lions. Not worse, not better. Different.

The owl pointed out that the tree is much older than all of the lions, and it would probably be around long after they've all left. It had seen more than the lion ever had or ever would, and so a tree cannot measure time or speed in the same way a lion does. And perhaps that's why the tree is so heavy – just think of all of that ancient wisdom stored inside.

The owl observed that a tree changes and moves and communicates constantly, even if it looks and sounds different from how the lion does it. But predictable change is still change, and stability is a form of strength.

Finally, the owl reminded the tree that many other living things – including the owl! – were here only because that tree existed, and it did all that without a single roar.

And then, the owl left the tree to hunt. It knew it couldn't save the tree, only the tree could do that. It had tried its best. The owl hoped its home would still be there in the morning when it came back.

--

A little while later, the lion woke up with a smile. It was time to get to work.