King Spectacles and the Shaky Tree

Once upon a time, in a great, golden savanna, lived a very special, spectacled Lion named King Spectacles (we know him well!). He was the kindest lion in the whole land and loved to help his friends.

One day, with a soft 'pit-a-pat', a tiny Squirrel with big, scared eyes scurried up to King Spectacles.

"Oh, King Spectacles! A big problem has arrived!" the Squirrel squeaked, looking back over his shoulder.

"Tell me, little one," said King Spectacles, adjusting his spectacles to listen carefully.

"There's an Elephant who is very, very grumpy today! He found a giant, juicy baobab tree for a snack, but that is my home! Every time he takes a bite, or even leans against it, the whole tree shakes and my acorns start falling like rain! He's causing all sorts of problems!"

King Spectacles, with his heart of gold, was not scared. "A big shakes problem? We can solve that. He just needs to calm down. Come, let's go find this elephant."

So, they went to find the huge, grey elephant, who was looking very grumpy.

King Spectacles sat down right in front of him, looking very serious and wise with his round spectacles. The Elephant, seeing King Spectacles, stopped scratching his head.

"Hello, Elephant," said King Spectacles in his deep, calm voice. "I see you are using this tree to scratch a very big itch on your back. But, you see, this tiny squirrel lives right up there."

He pointed a paw at the shivering squirrel, who peeked from behind King Spectacles’ spectacles.

"He's causing big problems for the squirrel, and it’s very scary for him to have his home shake like that. When you need to calm down and have a scratch, perhaps you could look for another tree? Like that one over there, with the smooth trunk. It’s perfect for big elephant scratches."

The Elephant, with a very thoughtful look on his big grey face, looked at the other tree King Spectacles pointed to. It was very smooth and looked perfect for a scratch. He didn't want to cause problems.

"Okay," the Elephant said softly. "I'll try that tree. It does look much better."

He gave a small nod and began to walk towards the new, smooth-trunked tree, looking a little calmer already.

The tiny squirrel let out a big, huge sigh of relief. He scurried all around King Spectacles, chattering with happiness.

"Thank you, thank you, King Spectacles! You are the wisest and kindest lion ever! My home is safe again, and I can store all my acorns for winter!"

King Spectacles just smiled, and the tiny squirrel knew that even a giant elephant was no match for the kind and wise king. And everyone in the savanna, big or small, knew that everything was right again.