Once, a lioness and her cub were hunting in the jungle. The baby asked its mother, "Mother, why are we hunting when a deer is already at home?”
The mother said, "My love! We can' t eat that deer because it has surrendered (投降) himself seeking our help. He is wounded and helpless. We must help him.”
The baby cub was surprised and questioned again, "Why so? That's our food, we can eat it.”
“Honey, you are right! It's our food and we can kill him in any second but do you think he deserves to be killed when he has come to-us for protection?”
The baby cub couldn't understand her mother's vulnerability(软弱). It kept quiet and paced with its mother. At last, they didn't get anything and came back to their cave.
The deer, on the other hand, was terrified of his own decision of taking shelter in the cave. Unfortunately he had no choice! He was attacked by a hunter and somehow managed to escape. While running for his life, he saw the cave and without a second thought entered it. He had already got a shot from the hunter. When he realized he was in the lions cave, he gave up the idea of running back again. The deer gazed at the lioness with a pitiful look, tears rolling down He sat there as if he urged for the mercy of the lioness.
The lioness came closer to the deer, smelled it and slowly moved out of the cave with her cub.
When the lions came back, the cub asked its mother to kill the deer again. But the lioness was firm on her decision. She said, "Sweetheart! We can-manage one night without any food. Tomorrow, I would definitely fetch out some food for you.”
The cub said nothing, grunted(嘟哝）a little.
When the cub slept, the lioness whispered to the deer,"Run, away from this area because I doubt if I could save you any longer if the next time situation demands!"
The deer looked at the lioness with gratitude and slowly walked away from the cave.
