Vedantic Tales:
The Discipleship of Hari: The Lion

Hari felt the blood rush into his head, and he whispered, 'Thank you.'

The lion looked at him benignly. 'Well,' he asked, 'are you prepared to stay?'

Hari's mouth dropped open. He had hoped the lion would let him stay for a little while longer a half hour or so, but that was all he had planned on.

'I should be back, I guess, before noon,' he said.

'So?'

'The Rams' Club meets today and and well, my mother will be worrying.'

'Oh, forget all that!' the lion roared. 'You are a lion! Stay away from sheep.'

'But, sir, they are my people,' Hari bleated. 'They need me.'

'What for?' the lion asked.

'Well, I make them laugh and feel happy and-and-its my place. It is my duty,' he added brightly.

The lion curled his lip. 'Very well,' he said coldly, 'go back to them. But do not expect to see me again.' And he looked away as though it were no concern of his at all.

Hari fell silent and did not move. He knew in the depths of his being that he would never again leave the lion, though it seemed an impossible thing for a sheep to even consider. His life with the flock with all its security and comfort passed through his mind; and once again he saw the incongruous and pathetic picture of a small sheep in the strange and terrifying forest. But the first picture was without Lion; and the second was with Lion. And Lion was the Something he had always sought.

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