1 Once upon a time, a lion was eating all the animals in the land. One day an old goat said to all of the animals that were left, "We must put a stop to this. I have a plan by which the lion may be sent away from us.”
2 “Let us pray that it works," said the other animals.
3 The old goat, with his long beard and curved horns, laid down in a cave on the roadside. The Lion, who was on his way to the village to eat animals, saw him and stopped at the front of the cave.
4 "So you have come, after all," said the goat.
5 "What do you mean?" said the lion.
6 "I have been lying in this cave for a long time. I have eaten up one hundred elephants, a hundred tigers, a thousand wolves, and ninety-nine lions. I have wanted to eat one more lion. I have waited long and patiently. Mother Nature after all this time, has been kind to me," said the goat. He shook his horns and his beard and made a start as if he were about to spring upon and attack the lion.
7 The lion said to himself, "This animal looks like a goat, but it does not talk like one. So it is very likely some evil spirit in this shape of a goat. Listening to your gut often does me better than acting foolishly, so for now, I will return to the woods," and he turned back.
8 The goat rose up, and, advancing to the front of the cave, said, "Will you come back tomorrow?"
9 "Never again," said the lion.
10 "Do you think I shall be able to see you, at least, in the woods tomorrow?"
11 "Neither in the woods nor this neighborhood anymore," said the lion, and he ran far, far away.
12 The animals in the country never heard from the lion again. They were forever grateful and celebrated the goat from that day forward.
