Lion's Breath- Pleasant Or Unpleasant? A Found Poem For Children Poem by Indira Renganathan

Below is the original text for this found poem taken from 'The New Sunday Express Magazine', part of the daily newspaper 'The New Indian Express' group. Modern Panchatantra At Work Once a powerful short tempered lion ruled a forest.One morning his wife told him that his breath was bad.Upon hearing this the king of the forest was embarrassed and angry.He wanted to verify the 'allegation'with others.So he summoned three other animals.First came the sheep.The lion opened his mouth and yelled, 'Tell me if my mouth smells bad'Assuming that the lion wanted an honest answer, the sheep said 'Your Majesty, there seems to be something wrong with your breath to day.'This plainspeak infuriated the lion.He pounced on the sheep and killed it.Then it was the wolf's turn. The lion asked him 'Do I have a bad breath? ' Now the wolf was cautious seeing the sheep's fate.He said Your breath is as sweet as the smell of roses'.The reply didn't go down well with the lion.The king roared, 'You flatterer! ' He attacked the wolf and killed it in one fell swoop. The cunning fox was witnessing all this.The lion turned to him.But he started coughing incessantly, cleared his throat and then said 'O king, due to a bad cold, I can't smell anything, pleasant or unpleasant.' The lion spared the fox's life. Moral: Avoid involving yourself in a bad company or being in a bad situation, else you may end up getting penalised for no fault of yours. Sometimes it's wise to stay away from certain situations.