The Lion's Mane Moth

 

Hilaire Belloc

Jim, Who Ran away from his Nurse, and was Eaten by a Lion

There was a Boy whose name was Jim;
His Friends were very good to him.
They gave him Tea, and Cakes, and Jam,
And slices of delicious Ham,
And Chocolate with pink inside,
And little Tricycles to ride,
And read him Stories through and through,
And even took him to the Zoo—
But there it was the dreadful Fate
Befel him, which I now relate.

You know—at least you ought to know,
For I have often told you so—
That Children never are allowed
To leave their Nurses in a Crowd;
Now this was Jim's especial Foible,
He ran away when he was able,
And on this inauspicious day
He slipped his hand and ran away!
He hadn't gone a yard when—Bang!
With open Jaws, a Lion sprang,
And hungrily began to eat
The Boy: beginning at his feet.

Now, just imagine how it feels
When first your toes and then your heels,
And then by gradual degrees,
Your shins and ankles, calves and knees,
Are slowly eaten, bit by bit.

No wonder Jim detested it!
No wonder that he shouted "Hi!"
The Honest Keeper heard his cry,
Though very fat he almost ran
To help the little gentleman.
"Ponto!" he ordered as he came
(For Ponto was the Lion's name),
"Ponto!" he cried, with angry Frown.
"Let go, Sir! Down, Sir! Put it down!"

The Lion made a sudden Stop,
He let the Dainty Morsel drop,
And slunk reluctant to his Cage,
Snarling with Disappointed Rage.
But when he bent him over Jim,
The Honest Keeper's Eyes were dim.
The Lion having reached his Head,
The Miserable Boy was dead!

When Nurse informed his Parents, they
Were more Concerned than I can say:—
His Mother, as She dried her eyes,
Said, "Well—it gives me no surprise,
He would not do as he was told!"
His Father, who was self-controlled,
Bade all the children round attend
To James' miserable end,
And always keep a-hold of Nurse
For fear of finding something worse.

https://englishverse.com/poems/jim

This Strewelpeter parody is almost as horrid as the original.  But I do love the Keeper and his stern command.

There is a moth called The Lion's Mane, and it has a lovely golden mane, as very likely did Ponto above. Sadly I can't find a photo of it in the Captain's Gallery as it has never visited our balcony - let alone our shores.  (It has never, in recorded history, eaten a small child either.)  But I have found a photo of a lion pride happily dozing in the South African sun  taken on my one trip there. They looked so calm and placid, but if anyone had been insane enough to get out of the safari vehicle they would have found, quickly and tragically, that looks can be deceptive.

 I remember we went to Longleat once, many many years ago (with our aged parents), and drove through the lions enclosure.  A large male lion came strolling along, oh so casually, right by our car, almost brushing it. "Why", his demeanour said "I haven't even noticed there is a car full of lunch...er...people right beside me, I'm just lost in deep, peaceful and kindly thoughts. Don't I look cuddly!".

We did not believe him, which is one reason why I am here today to write this blog. But I remember how flimsy the car suddenly felt as he brushed alongside it - I felt like a sardine in a can.

We had our annual visit to The Arun View on Tuesday night, the seven of us.  Food as good as ever, staff as friendly as ever, and ambience as good as ever.  It's a great local, though we may not get there much these days.   I was distinctly un-lionlike and had a veggie dish, the vegetable roast, served with a lovely coulis (or sauce as we used to call it), beans and tender stem broccoli. Delicious.

I then chose to forgot that I did not need a pudding and had two scoops of sorbet: passionfruit/mango and raspberry.  Which I could not even finish. I did not have a very good night's sleep, which served me right.

There is very likely a Hilaire Belloc style cautionary rhyme in this - about greed - if I were up to writing it.

Out of greed/and warnings that she would not heed/she took a pud she did not need/ A pride of lions passing by/noted she was in no shape to fly/to safety from their hungry jaws/ and so, without a moment's pause...

Clearly it needs Hilaire himself to do it justice.