Lavić Hrabrić – Story About Courage

Although he was born with a mane—thanks to which he got the name Brave Little Lion (Lavić Hrabrić)—this little lion simply didn’t want to bathe.

His mom and dad tried in every possible way to convince him that bathing was very important, especially for his mane, which made him special. But Brave Little Lion didn’t even want to go near the water, and bathing was completely out of the question. He would just lift his little head and shake it firmly in protest. His mom and dad, always gentle with their favorite cub, would eventually give in and let him have his way.

As the days went by, his mane grew bigger and fuller, and he became prouder and prouder of it.

One afternoon, when the little lion lazily opened his eyes, he noticed something strange on his mane.

It was a butterfly—the strangest butterfly Brave Little Lion had ever seen. Its body was dark and dotted with little spots, but its wings were completely transparent, and with every movement it left sparkling threads behind. It looked as if the butterfly was sprinkling something like stardust all around.

Watching it in amazement for a few seconds, Brave Little Lion asked in surprise, “Who are you?”

“And who are you?” the butterfly replied.

“What do you mean, who am I? Everyone knows who I am!” the little lion exclaimed, surprised. “I’m Brave Little Lion!”

The butterfly casually fluttered its wings, creating its starry shimmer, and said, “And can you make sparks like I can?”

“Come on, try,” the butterfly challenged him.

Brave Little Lion jumped up and shook his mane suddenly, hoping his mane would create something even better—but of course, nothing happened.

The little butterfly flew around him, constantly saying, “Come on, come on—try again. Come on, one more time and you’ll succeed.” All the while, it sprinkled glittering dust around Brave Little Lion.

The little lion tried his hardest while playing with the butterfly—he rolled forward and backward, spun around, and hopped after the butterfly, completely enchanted and drawn into the game. With every move he tried more and more, wanting to outshine the butterfly. His mane flew everywhere, and it seemed to him that, lit by the sun, it was finally making sparks too.

The game went on until, at one moment, the butterfly suddenly flew away and landed on a tree. The little lion, wanting to join it, jumped as high as he could—and fell прямо into the river.

Although at first he quickly wanted to jump out of the river, he was stopped by the shimmer on the water, similar to the sparkling dust the butterfly had been scattering. Curiosity encouraged him to swim, and he did so easily. Realizing that, he continued to enjoy the water. He enjoyed it so much that he splashed his mom and dad with his mane while they watched happily. They tossed him some macadamia oil shampoo, which not only gave him a sparkling mane, but also created irresistibly shiny bubbles in the water.

From that day on, bathing became Brave Little Lion’s favorite activity.

Fun facts about lions:

• Did you know that a lion’s mane only starts to grow once they are about 18 months old, and it keeps growing until they are around 5 years old?
• Also, unlike many other cats, lions are excellent swimmers.