Not too long ago there was a gazelle who became very famous in his time. But we have already heard that story. So fast was he that no predator could catch him, not even our magnificent cheetah. He was safe wherever he went, at least as safe as a gazelle could be. He was faster than all. He could always get away. And as long as he stuck to the short grass where he could see all around, stayed alert during the night, and kept his wits about him when he drank from the river, he had nothing to worry about. But as happens with many to whom life has been rather kind, he found himself wanting more, and in time decided that he had earned, and therefore deserved more. After all, he was quite exceptional. So one beautiful night as the herd grazed he set to thinking, and by morning had come up with a rather sharp plan. His plan involved the lions, and he found them just as they were going to bed for the day.
“What brings you in search of me?” asked the king, “My striking good looks?” and he turned to the gazelle with a face full of deep scars, one of which covered his left eye.
Nervously, the gazelle answered, “I have a proposal for you.”
“And I have five for you …” smiled the huge one-eyed lion as he showed the claws on one of his paws.
At this the gazelle backed up, just in time, in fact, to realize that some of the other lions had already almost circled him. But fast as the cobra, faster even, he shot off and gave himself some space. Much more space.
“Didn’t see them, did you!” laughed the lion. “But come, come, no need to shy away from such pretty ladies, all are entitled to speak with the King from time to time, and I won’t have us yelling at each other from miles apart. I can see that you’ve brought your wits today, or at least enough of them, so let’s hear this proposal of yours …”
So, slowly the gazelle approached again, and again he spoke to the King …
“We all know that the vultures carry the news of the land, spying on any and all, but they charge, sometimes too much, and they play all sides. While I can’t gather as much news as a vulture can, I can gather the news that you care about, news of the hyenas, and I won’t charge you those beautiful choice cuts of meat that the vultures do. All I want is to relax at night, or by the long grass, or by the river. With your protection I will have the respect I have earned and deserve, and you will always know everything you could ever want to about the hyenas!”
The lions had never heard anything like this before, but the King loved it, and so that is how it started. The unsuspecting hyenas paid no mind to the gazelle, and he could easily eavesdrop. They couldn’t catch him anyway, he didn’t really bother them, and so it wasn’t long before he knew everything about them. And so it wasn’t long before the lions knew everything too. The gazelle enjoyed his new protected status very much, sleeping all through the night, drinking as much as he could stomach, and napping in the long grass all day long. The herd would spring to life and sprint away at the slightest hint of danger, but he had not a care about any of it. Life was wonderfully easy for him, though the same could not be said for the hyenas. See, all by himself the gazelle had made life quite tedious, and sometimes downright miserable for them. Well time passed by in the way that it does, the gazelle all the while enjoying the good life, until one day a young and rather clever vulture happened to be waiting just low enough in the branches above the lions, hidden. Maybe he was there by chance, maybe not. What matters is that he was there.
When the gazelle came with the news of the day and had his typical chat with the King, the vulture heard everything. And so it wasn’t long before the hyenas heard everything too. So one day, not too long after, the King turned him away. “You have been bringing lies as of late, not one thing you have told me about the hyenas has been true in days, and so we are finished.” And when the the beautiful golden eyes began to circle, the gazelle knew there would be no more talking. For the rest of the day he thought and thought and thought about what had gone wrong, and when the night closed in he had still come up with nothing. He made his way to the middle of the herd to lie down, and for the first time in a very long while his ears stayed awake as he drifted to sleep, frustrated and thinking about the lions. In his dreams they were laughing at him, and though he kept trying to explain himself their laughter only grew louder and louder until …
Suddenly he jolted awake! Somewhere the long grass had twitched, and the herd had sprung to life, bolting through the darkness. The gazelle turned to run with them, but after only a few short moments he found himself tiring. As he stood there catching his breath, searching through the darkness, a few remaining others shot past him. Again he turned to run, and again he tired after only a few moments. Soon all was quiet, and he was alone. And though he tried to stay calm, the old, unforgettable terror that comes with the night began to set in.
Came a voice through the darkness, “Too long since you’ve opened your eyes in the night?”
And another, “Too long since you’ve run with your brothers and sisters?”
And then a third, “And too long you have made our lives difficult!”
Laughter from every direction filled the air. Louder and louder … closer and closer ... and then nothing ... silence.
The gazelle stood frozen, listening, desperately searching for sounds in the darkness that he couldn’t see. Then finally came that faintest twitch of movement in the grass …
He was the greatest there had ever been. He had achieved the unthinkable, become untouchable. But that was all over now.
Now ... it was time to run.