A young lion was wandering through the jungle, thinking about how the time had come for him to become king, when he came across an injured lion. The lion had clearly once been strong and powerful.

"What happened to you?" the young lion asked as he tried to help him.

The injured lion told his story.

"When it was time for me to become king of the jungle, I decided to show everyone how strong and powerful I was so that they would fear and respect me. I frightened and threatened as many little animals as I could find. Word of my cruelty spread so much that even the biggest animals were scared of me and obeyed me as their king. Then the other lions wanted my kingdom. I went from occasionally fighting little animals to fighting big lions all the time. I won many battles, but yesterday a bigger and stronger lion defeated me. He left me for dead and took over my kingdom. So here I am, waiting for death to take me, with no one who cares enough about me to keep me company.

The young lion stayed with the injured lion and tended to his wounds before continuing on his way. When he finally left, it didn't take him long to come across a giant lion locked in a cage with big steel bars. The lion must have once been very strong, but he now looked very thin.

"What happened to you? Why are you locked in that cage?"

The caged lion told his story.

"When it was time for me to become king of the jungle, I used my power to defeat the previous king. Then I spent my time proving my power to everyone to gain their respect. I fought and humiliated whoever dared cross me and soon everyone did as I said. I thought they respected me, or that they even admired me, but they only obeyed me through fear. They hated me so much that, one night, they all agreed to betray me as I slept, and they trapped me in this cage. I'm going to die of hunger in here. There are no keys and no door to the cage, and nobody cares enough about me to bring food.

After leaving the trapped lion enough food next to the cage to last a few days, the young lion decided to continue on his way, asking himself what he could do to become king. He had seen that the power and cruelty of the other two lions had not worked out too well for them. He was searching for a smarter way to use his power when he came across an enormous tiger who was enjoying humiliating a little mouse. The tiger was clearly the new king, but the lion decided to defend the little mouse.

"Leave him alone. You don't need to treat him like that to prove that you're the king."

"Do you want to fight me, little lion?" the tiger mocked furiously, "Do you want to become the new king?"

The lion, who had already seen how fights like this end, answered:

"I don't want to fight you. I don't care that you're the king. I just want you to leave this poor animal alone."

The tiger, who didn't really want to get into a fight with a lion, breathed a sigh of relief, believing that the lion respected him as the king. He walked away, leaving the little mouse in peace.

The little mouse was very grateful and the lion liked the feeling of helping him out so much that he decided defending other animals would be a good way to use his strength. From then onwards, he didn't allow any animal to be abused or humiliated by someone stronger than them. Word of the protector lion spread quickly and the animals in the jungle, who wanted to feel safe, were grateful.

The tiger was proud to be king of a famous jungle full of animals, but he soon began to see the young lion's fame as a threat to his power. So, he decided to fight and humiliate the lion in front of the others to show how powerful he was.

"Hello, little lion," he said, showing his enormous claws, "I thought that today you could entertain me and everyone else. So, you're going to do everything I tell you to, and you can start by kissing my paws and cleaning my claws."

The lion was scared, just as anyone who was being threatened by someone stronger than them would be. But he was not a coward and he bravely answered:

"I don't want to fight you. You’re the king, and I don't want to take your place. But I am not going to let you abuse anyone else, not even me."

The lion immediately felt the pain from the tiger's first hit and a fierce fight broke out. However, the fight lasted just a few seconds because many of the animals watching, who loved and admired the brave lion, jumped on top of the tiger, who felt dozens of bites, hits, kicks and stings on his skin all at the same time. As the badly wounded and embarrassed tiger ran off, he could hear in the distance the cheers of the other animals declaring the lion as their king.

And that was how the young lion found the best way to use his power and strength. He discovered that without combining his power with justice, intelligence and bravery, he would never have become the famous king who was loved and respected by all.

Translated by Lauren Campbell and Mark Barrett, Manchester Metropolitan University