Stories of Kindness to Animals: 18. St. Jerome & The Lion

But ask now the beasts,
And they shall teach thee
And the fowls of the air,
and they shall tell thee-
Who knoweth not in all those,
That the hand of the Lord hath wrought this?
In whose hand is the soul of every living thing.
-- Job xii 7, 9

I will now tell you some stories about Christian Saints who lived many years ago. They left their homes and their native lands and travelled about from place to place, preaching the gospel of mercy to men and animals. Some of them lived in caves and desolate places amidst wild animals. The animals never did them any harm but on the other hand trusted them and were obedient to them.

St. Jerome (347-420 CE) was one such Saint. He was a monk of the fourth century. He lived in Bethlehem. Once when he was sitting outside his monastery he saw a huge lion approaching him. The Saint was not afraid. He did not run away. He saw that the lion was suffering from some severe pain. As the lion came nearer, be saw also that the king of beasts was limping. So St. Jerome knew that it was some pain in the leg that troubled the lion.

The Saint examined the log of the lion and found that a thorn had got into the paw and was deeply embedded in it. With great difficulty, and without causing pain to the lion, St. Jerome gently pulled out the thorn.

Now the lion realized that St. Jerome was his benefactor. So he did not leave him. He followed the Saint quietly, ate the food that was given to him and remained in the monastery with his friend, St. Jerome.

The rule in the monastery was that everybody who lived there must do some work or other to earn the food given to him. Now the question was what work could be given to the lion.

There was a donkey in the monastery. His duty was to go to the forest and carry to the monastery loads of fuel on his back. The lion was to go with the donkey to the forest to protect him from wild beasts and bring him back in safety. Yes, the lion was the policeman who looked after the safety of the donkey in the forest.

The lion and the donkey became very good friends, and they loved each other very tenderly. One day as the donkey was grazing, the lion fell asleep. Just then a party of merchants who had come to trade in Bethlehem, saw the donkey and stole him. The lion missed his donkey-friend sorely. He ran about in search of his missing friend in vain and returned to the monastery looking very sad.

The monks thought that the lion had killed the donkey and eaten him. So they made the lion carry the load of fuel which the donkey daily carried for the use of the monks.

Days passed. Everyday after doing his duty, the lion roamed about in the hope of finding the donkey. He succeeded at last. He saw his donkey-friend with the merchants who had stolen him. The lion ran to the party and cleverly managed to bring them to the monks. The monks now found out why the lion bad brought the whole party. They, saw the lost donkey with the party. The merchants confessed their guilt. The Saint took the donkey back. And the two friends once more lived quite happily together.

After some time, Saint Jerome fell ill. He grew worse day by day and died. The lion too lay near the place where his friend and master was buried, refused to eat and guarded the tomb of his master till death came to him.

18. St. Jerome & The Lion

6 comments: