Chapter 21. The Lion Becomes the King of Beasts

Once they climbed down from the porcelain wall, the travelers were in a really unpleasant country. It was filled with swamps and wetlands and had tall, wild grass everywhere. Walking was challenging because the thick grass hid muddy pits, making it easy to trip. Still, they were careful and managed to move along until they found firm ground. This part of the land was even wilder. After a long, tiring walk through dense bushes, they ended up in another forest. Here, the trees were much larger and older than any they had seen before.

"This forest is really nice," the Lion said, joyfully looking around. "I've never seen a place this lovely."

"It looks dark," said the Scarecrow.

"Not at all," the Lion replied. "I would love to live here forever. Look at how soft the dry leaves are under your feet and how lush and green the moss on these old trees is. No wild animal could wish for a better home."

"Maybe there are wild animals in the forest now," Dorothy said.

"I guess there could be," replied the Lion, "but I don't see any."

They kept going until it was too dark to move. Dorothy, Toto, and the Lion slept while the Woodman and the Scarecrow stood guard as usual.

When morning came, they started again. They heard a low, rumbling noise not long after, like many wild animals growling. Toto whined a bit, but no one else was scared. They followed the well-used path until they reached a clearing in the forest. It was filled with hundreds of animals of all sorts.

Tigers, elephants, bears, wolves, foxes, and many others initially scared Dorothy. However, the Lion explained that the animals were having a meeting. He guessed they were in a lot of trouble from their growling and snarling.

As he was talking, some of the animals saw him. Suddenly, the large group went quiet as if by magic. The biggest tiger walked up to the Lion and bowed, saying:

"Welcome, O King of Beasts! You've arrived just in time to fight our enemy and bring peace back to our forest."

"What's the problem?" the Lion asked calmly.

"We're all in danger," the tiger replied, "from a fierce enemy recently coming to this forest. It's a huge monster, like a giant spider, with a body as big as an elephant and legs as long as a tree trunk. It has eight of these long legs, and as the monster moves around, it grabs an animal with a leg and pulls it to its mouth to eat it, just like a spider would eat a fly. None of us are safe while this beast is alive. We were having a meeting to figure out how to protect ourselves when you showed up."

The Lion took a moment to think.

"Are there any other lions in this forest?" he asked.

"No, there were some, but the monster has eaten them all. Plus, they weren't nearly as big and brave as you."

"If I get rid of your enemy, will you follow and obey me as the King of the Forest?" the Lion asked.

"We'd be happy to," replied the tiger. All the other animals roared loudly, "We will!"

"Where is this giant spider of yours now?" the Lion asked.

"Over there, among the oak trees," the tiger answered, pointing with his paw.

"Look after my friends," the Lion said, "and I'll go to fight the monster right now."

He said goodbye to his friends and walked off proudly to fight the enemy.

The Lion found the giant spider sleeping. It looked so gross that the Lion crinkled his nose in disgust. Its legs were as long as the tiger had said, and its body was covered in rough black hair. It had a big mouth with sharp teeth a foot long. But its head was attached to the chubby body by a thin neck, like a wasp's waist.

This gave the Lion an idea of how best to attack the beast. Knowing it was easier to fight it while it slept, he took a huge leap and landed right on the monster's back. Then, with a single hit of his heavy paw, full of sharp claws, he knocked the spider's head off its body. He jumped down and watched until the long legs stopped moving, which told him it was completely dead.

The Lion returned to the clearing where the forest animals were waiting and said with pride:

"You don't need to fear your enemy anymore."

Then, the animals bowed to the Lion, accepting him as their King. He promised to come back and rule over them as soon as Dorothy was safely on her way to Kansas.