When the creator put animals on the earth, each of them was assigned responsibilities. Lion, and his cat cousins, were given the task of ruling all living things on the earth. They roamed the jungles, mountains, forests and plains of the planet, making sure that things didn't get out of hand. Lion was basically a good natured soul, he was a vegetarian and looked out for the general health and well being of the animals. He had strong lungs and when he roared, it could be heard for miles around. There were a few people who lived among these animals, but they didn't bother the animals and the animals didn't bother them.

Lions, like most cats, liked lying in the sun, napping and occasionally taking a bath or giving one to another lion. The other animals didn't have a problem with this arrangement and life was balanced. However, way up in the north, there were some large, hairy ape-like creatures who roamed the earth, lived in caves and ate meat. They had also learned how to summon and use fire. These creatures, who lived in caves, wanted to rule all living things on the earth and decided that they would need to defeat Lion, if they wanted his job.

Their first idea was to kill Lion, until one of them realized that Lion would be very useful to them in the future. Lion had senses and instincts that they did not posses, not to mention the respect of all of the other animals on the earth. On the other hand, the other animals laughed at them and ran from them, whenever they came near. So they realized that the way to defeat Lion was to gain control of him. If they could gain control of Lion, they would have the respect of all of the other animals on the earth. Now the only problem was, how would they gain control of Lion? They thought and thought until an idea finally came to them. They were watching some small cats playing with the leaves of a plant. Each time they played with the leaves, they got a little more silly and would roll on their backs and claw at the sky. The ape-like creatures realized that the leaves must have some power to make the cats behave like that.

Some of the ape-like creatures picked a bunch of leaves from one of the bushes that the cats were playing in, placed them in a big clay pot of water and put the pot over a fire. The water began to boil and the leaves began to brew. They let the water boil for two days, adding more water every so often. Finally, they took the pot off of the fire and let it cool in the ice and snow outside of their cave. When the brew was cold, they took the pot down into the jungle. When the animals and the people saw them coming, all but Lion ran and hid in the woods. Lion was not afraid of anybody or anything. The ape-like creatures were very friendly and told Lion that they had made a special drink just for him, it was a brew fit only for the king of the earth.

Lion smelled the pot and the aroma was delicious. He stuck his head in the pot and took a long drink. Suddenly, he felt really giddy and began laughing and prancing around. He spun round and round in a circle until he got quite dizzy and fell back into the grass, laughing, purring and clawing at the sky. After a while, the effects of the brew wore off and he wanted some more, so the ape-like creatures gave it to him.

By the third or fourth time he had this brew, he was unable to imagine living without it. The feeling that this brew gave him was unlike anything he'd ever felt before. He went back to the pot, but it was empty. "Can you make some more of that brew for me?" asked Lion. The ape-like creatures smiled at each other and then at him and said "well, we could, if only...." Lion was nearly frantic, "If only what?" he asked.
"If only we had more land to grow the plant from which this brew is made."
"How much land do you need?"
"Oh, not much, just enough to grow about 10 or 15 fields of the plants."
Lions eyes grew big as he thought of fields of these marvelous plants growing in his jungle. He agreed and they began clearing out sections of the jungle to start their crops. Of course, in clearing the jungle, they were able to capture, kill and eat many of the animals and people who lived in the jungle and were able to hide in its rich green foliage. Lion began having this brew every day and spent less and less time taking care of the earth and more time prancing and rolling on the ground enjoying the feeling that this brew gave him. Every so often, the supply of the brew would fall off. Each time, Lion would want to know why and each time the ape-like creatures told him that it was because they didn't have enough fields, so Lion gave them more land. Pretty soon, these ape-like creatures controlled most of the earth.

One afternoon, Lion was nodding out after his dose of brew when some of the ape-like creatures had an idea. They figured that if they added a little of their blood to the brew, it would make Lion their slave the way that the brew captured him. That evening, they gave Lion the brew with the blood. All of a sudden, Lion started snarling and roaring, his eyes took on a fiery glaze and he began pacing around the ape-like creatures. Finally, he came to a stop and froze in one place, setting his gaze on one of them. The ape-like creatures watched him in terror. Then, Lion leaped on the ape-like creature that he was watching and began to eat him. You see, these ape-like creatures were crafty but not very smart. What they had given Lion was a taste for blood, a taste more intense than his taste for the brew. In fact, he lost his taste for the brew and now only wanted blood. The ape-like creatures scattered back into the mountains, not to be seen again for many years.

To this day, Lion still roams the jungles, mountains, forests and plains looking for animals and blood, and cats still play with catnip. What about the ape-like creatures? Some say that their children are still trying to find brews that will help them gain control of the earth, but every time, these schemes back-fire, and the brew ends up causing problems.

Think, it's not illegal......yet!!!!

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