Question

The Lion Fable

This story follows a lion who is shy and afraid to act for fear of looking foolish. While the lion watches quietly, several other animals step up to lead without hesitation—and make things progressively worse. Each time, the lion quietly tells his mouse friend how he would have done things, and each idea sounds like it would have been a much better and more logical solution. Finally, the mouse points out that the most foolish animals in the kingdom have stepped up to lead without hesitation and suggests that the biggest fool of them all is the lion, who has the best ideas but is too timid to lead. The lion takes the mouse’s words to heart and steps up to rule.

The Animal Council

This story is about a group of animals who serve on King Lion’s council. They gather frequently when their king is not around to complain about his rules and way of doing things. They echo one another’s concerns, and all agree that the king is their greatest problem. Hearing of their doubt, the king decides to teach the animals a lesson. He disappears for two weeks. During this time, the animal council is given the chance to lead. They make several messes, and by the end of the two weeks, the mouse alerts the king that his council is desperate to find and return him to his throne. When he returns, he tells the animals not to question his leadership if they cannot do better themselves.

Question
Use the folk tale descriptions to answer the question.

Both stories focus on characters who rule over others. In 3–5 sentences, explain how this culture views its rulers and explain what evidence you found in each story to support your answer.

(4 points)
grade 6

Answer 1

The culture respects rulers who actually lead well and expects people who criticize a ruler to be able to do better themselves. In The Lion Fable, several animals leap into power and make things worse while the shy lion quietly has better ideas, showing that thoughtful, capable leadership is valued over bold but foolish action. In The Animal Council, the council members complain about King Lion, but when he disappears they make messes and beg him to return, and the king tells them not to question his rule if they cannot improve on it. Together these stories show that rulers are seen as necessary and should be competent and responsible, not just challenged for the sake of complaining.