The horse and the bee

All the animals in the forest got together to celebrate the birthday of their lion king.

"How are we going to celebrate the birthday?" asked the elephant.

"We can have a lot of events." said the bear.

"We can have races, games, songs and dances."

"Is that all?" Asked the little rabbit.

"No we should have lots of things to eat and drink."

Then they all gathered in front of the lion's den, singing: "Happy birthday to you... Happy birthday dear lion king, happy birthday to you...!"

"How are we going to start the day?" Asked the elephant.

"We should have a race." said the horse. All of them looked at the horse.

"I am the fastest runner among you. But I want to know whether there is anyone else who is even faster? Is there anyone who can take my challenge?" Asked the white horse who was also known by the name stallion. He looked round to see whether there is anyone who is going to take the challenge.

Then the lion said: "Thank you for coming here. Let us see the race in the first instance. Anyone ready to take up the challenge?"

"Yes, lion king. I am ready." A little bee said. He arrived somewhat late to the party. A burst of laughter was heard from all quarters. The lion did not laugh. He was stern in his voice of command.

"All right! All right! Let the little bee air his voice. But we will appoint the wise owl as the judge, who will lay down the rules of the race." Then all of them looked at the owl, who was perched on a branch of a giant tree. The wise owl declared:

"The race will start from the line drawn in front of the lion's den, and the contestants should run to the edge of the forest to the bank of the river, and come back to the den. Right! Do you all agree?"

The owl looked round to see any other comments.

"When I say one, two, three, go, the race will start!" The animals agreed.

"Any changes or additions necessary?" asked the wise owl.

"No, no, the rules are agreed upon. Let's have the race."

"What are we going to give the winner?" asked a munching rabbit.

"A trophy of course. A statement of honour declared on the birthday of the king lion." Said the wise owl. There was no protest or amendments. All seem to have accepted the verdict of the owl.

"Are there any other contestants?" asked the wise owl. There ensued a silence.

"So we agree to have the two contestants. The horse and the bee." A line was drawn in front of the lion's den. The two were asked to appear. The horse and the bee appeared. Then they took the positions. The wise owl made the gathering look attentive to his first announcement. The words came one after another: "One... two... three... Go..."

The horse stirred so much of dust that the animals did not see the figure of the bee. The bee was not seen even by the judge owl though he possessed sharp eyes. He was crawling or flying, no one knew. The bee got on to the horse's back and slowly walked on his back towards the head.

When the horse came back he slowly crept on the back of the horse in order to reach the head of the horse. Gradually, as the horse came back to the line drawn in front of the den, or the winning spot, the bee was seen on the tip of the horse's nose as a tiny yellow dot drawn on the tip of the horse's nose.

"Who is the winner? Who is the winner?" asked all the animals. The wise old owl was hesitant and wanted to declare the horse as the winner. But right at the moment the bee said in his sweet voice:

"Can't you all see me on the tip of the nose of the horse? So am I not the winner of the race?" The wise owl as the judge too declared the winner.

"Listen to me, my friends," said the owl.

"On the birthday of our king, we had the chance of seeing a great race. Now it is my verdict that matters here. The winner is declared as the bee!"

"Oh what a surprise? The winner is the bee! Can you believe that a tiny little bee can win the race with a horse?"

"Yes," said the owl. "Even the tiniest little creatures can do wonders," said the owl, declaring the winner. The lion held the trophy up and tried to hand it over to the bee. Then the bee said:

"Does not matter. Please leave the trophy in the den, so that all those gathered here could see it."