The Brave Young Man

Jack was considered the laziest boy in the village. His father, Robert, had long served as the village watchman. The villagers respected him greatly. Due to old age and illness, he was no longer able to work. One day, some of the village elders decided that if Jack were to take his father's place as watchman, their household would continue to have a means of livelihood.

When this proposal was presented to Jack, he initially agreed to do the work, but after only a few days, he became fed up with watchman duties and went to the city.

After staying in the city for several days, Jack returned to the village. He had gone to the city in search of employment but was unable to find any work due to his comfort-seeking nature and laziness.

Upon reaching the village, he learned that a bloodthirsty lion had been terrorizing the area. This lion had come from somewhere into the peaceful nearby forest and had already preyed on several of the village's animals.

Now he had permanently returned to the village, but no one forced him to resume watchman duties. He was now thinking of confronting the lion so he could improve his reputation in the eyes of the villagers. Jack was definitely comfort-seeking, but not a coward. As darkness fell, he would climb onto the roof to keep an eye on the lion's movements.

That night, the moonlight was spread out, and one could see quite a distance. It was the last part of the night when Jack saw the lion walking on a village trail. The lion had an animal clutched in its jaws. Jack had seen the lion after three nights of vigilance. He did not want to waste this opportunity, so he set out in pursuit.

The lion's direction was towards a large mound of earth, on the other side of which the forest began. Jack cautiously followed him and reached a place where the lion sat and feasted on its prey. After eating, the lion stretched fully and disappeared into the forest. Seeing old bones scattered here, Jack realized that the lion brought its prey here to eat. After seeing everything with his own eyes, Jack returned home and the next morning took out his father's gun and began to clean it.

"What are you doing this early in the morning, son?" Robert asked him in surprise.

"I am cleaning the gun, Father! It may be needed at any time. The lion has spread fear in the village," he said while cleaning the gun.

"So that's the matter... By the way, if the lion comes, what will you do?" Robert smiled.

"I will riddle him with bullets." His tone was determined.

"As far as I remember, you have never even killed a mouse; how will you kill a lion?" Robert said in a mischievous tone, and Jack also smiled. Robert himself had trained him to fire a gun and was now making fun of his idleness.

Several days passed while keeping watch on the lion. Today, too, midnight had passed, and Jack was sitting on a branch of a tree near the mound. Today, he was so alert that no one could taunt him. The moon was hidden in the clouds, and the moonlight was very dim. Jack was watching in darkness with eagle eyes. After a long time, he saw the lion coming towards the mound of earth. Today it had no prey because the villagers had locked their animals inside their rooms. The hungry lion's direction was towards those remaining bones of animals that it would bring after hunting.

As soon as the lion reached near the mound, it became alert and started looking around. Perhaps it had sensed someone's presence there. Hoping for prey, the hungry lion became fully alert. It cautiously moved forward, looking here and there. Soon it realized that someone was sitting on a tree near the mound.

Jack was also ready to deal with the situation. He had no experience of hunting, but retreating was no longer possible. Sitting on the branch, he straightened his gun and aimed at the skull between the lion's eyes. Now he was waiting for the lion to come closer. As the predator moved forward, Jack's heart raced faster and faster, but he had to keep control of his senses.

As soon as the bloodthirsty predator moved further forward, Jack pressed the trigger of his gun. The area echoed with gunfire far and wide. Birds sleeping in their nests panicked and started making noise. The branch of the tree on which Jack was sitting was not very strong. When his body jerked from firing his gun, the branch separated from its trunk, and Jack lost his balance and fell to the ground.

Due to falling from a height, his leg was severely injured. The gun slipped from his hand and fell on the ground. He grabbed his injured leg and groaned in pain.

Danger was still present. Jack turned his neck and looked towards the lion; a wave of fear ran through his body. The bullet had hit the lion's leg instead of its head, and it was preparing to attack again.

Time was short. Jack quickly picked up his gun and fired a second shot after loading it but it was too late. The lion had taken a long leap to attack him again. The atmosphere echoed once more with gunfire; this time Jack's scream joined in with that noise.

Hearing gunfire, Robert woke up with a start and sat up in shock. He examined by lantern light and found Jack missing along with his gun.

As soon as he thought of his son, his heart sank into his stomach. He came out of their house using a stick for support. Other villagers gathered there as well. Soon young men set off towards the mound on bullock carts; everyone thought that sound had come from that direction.

When they reached near the mound, they were left speechless by what they saw: A blood-soaked lion lay near a tree while half of Jack's body lay beneath it.

Jack's grip on his gun remained firm.

A few young men quickly moved forward and dragged away the dead lion from atop Jack. His leg was injured; he lay unconscious from shock. People carried him to their village clinic where their traditional doctor began treating him. Soon Jack regained consciousness; he looked around in surprise at those gathered around him who were calling him brave for perhaps this first time instead of cowardly or lazy. Today Robert held his head high with pride as well; time had proven their son to be bravest young man in their village—a great honor for them all.