Two people are stuck in a lion trap. 'Oh great, boyo, now what we gonna
do?' one snorts.

'We going to get out, that's what we gonna do,' says the other.

'Actually, I'm thinkin' it's a bit lovely in 'ere, maybe I don't want to
get out,' says the first, nodding in satisfaction. 'Too much work to get
up there, I wager.'

'Oi, you get over here and stand by the edge-like,' the second cajoles.
'That ain't too much, issit?'

'I s'pose not,' says the first warily. He stands at the edge of the pit
near the wall.

'A'right, now, all ye gotta do is not fall over, right?' and without
further ado, the second man scrambles up over the first, standing on his
shoulders, and hoists himself over the edge of the pit.

The free man scurries around to find some vine. 'This'll do, yeh?' he
smiles to himself. 'Rope would be better, but this is just dandy. Maybe
it'll break, but then I'll just find a stronger one.'

He lowers the vine into the lion trap. 'Grab hold, mate, I'm gonna pull
you out,' he calls down.

'I'm not grabbin' at that, are you mad?' replies the voice in the hole.
'What if it snaps in two?'

'What if it doesn't? Now grab on and let's get out of 'ere.'

'Would you lookit that, that monkey's got a rope!' cries the man in the
hole. Both men look up, and sure enough, there's a monkey in the tree
playing with a rope, and a few other odd bits of hiking gear. 'That's
-my- rope!' he roars. 'And my tools!'

The one at the top of the hole says, 'I'm not going to fight the damned
monkey for a rope when I got a vine right 'ere. Now you going to grab on
or not?'

'Nope, something's fishy, I think I'm right safe where I am. I'll wait
for the monkey to give up the rope.'

'The monkey ain't giving up the rope, you daft ape!'

'Well I ain't takin' the vine, that's for certain.'

'Why not?

'It's dodgy.' come the simplistic reply.

'Well, you got any better ideas?' cries the exasperated man atop the
hole.

'Yep, but I ain't tellin -you-. You might run off with the lot of em.
Then I'll be stuck down 'ere forever. Nope, too risky, I'd say.'

'Fine then, have it your way,' says the man with the vine, and he sits
down nearby, still gripping the end of it just in case his companion in
the hole decides to wake up to reality. He sits, and waits, trapped at
the top as securely as the man at the bottom by his own persistence. He
suddenly has an idea. He gives the rope a yank, and slowly starts
dragging it out of the hole. 'There it goes!' he shouts to his friend.
'Last chance, c'mon, grab it!'

'Do you mind!' the voice drifts back up to him. 'I'm trying to nap 'ere.
Found me a lovely bit o' dirt, makes a nice pillow. That monkey's going
to give it up any day now, I can feel it.'

'Well, if you ain't comin' out, I'm leaving.' says the man with the
vine, wrapping it up and setting it at the ground at his feet. 'You can
rot down there for all I care.'

The man walks away from the hole. 'Ay? What's that? Rot you say?' calls
the man in the hole, suddenly aware of his peril. 'Allo? Allo, you
there? Wait'll the lodge hears you left me out 'ere by myself! They're
going to be right steamed at you, I wager. You hear me up there!?
Steamed! You arse, you can't leave me 'ere!'

The only response is the monkey, now perched on a branch over the lion
trap chittering gleefully.

-----------------------------------------------

This short story is an allegory -- a figurative discourse in which the
prinicple subject is described by another subject resembling it in its
properties and circumstances.

End of Chapter self-test. (this will not be handed in or graded)

1. Do you think the vine would have broken? Does it matter? Why or why
not?
2. Who is the monkey that now owns the rope?
3. What do you think happens to the man that got out when he returns to
the lodge?
4. What literary techniques were employed in this passage?

Exercise:

Imagine a group of lion hunters comes upon the man in the hole. What
does he say to them, and how would they react? Continue the story.

Penned by my hand on the 25th of Lleian, in the year 120 MA.