Mufasa thought for a moment. “Well, I think....”

“Go on.”

Taka huffed. “He wasn’t paying attention!”

“No, Taka. Let him take his time.”

Mufasa said, “It means that God is fair. It also means that we’re all really brothers, and even though we kill antelopes and eat them, we shouldn’t hate them because they’re people just like us.”

Ahadi smiled and nuzzled him. “That’s EXACTLY what it means. See, Taka, your old father doesn’t have dim children!” Ahadi nuzzled Taka. “Do I, Taka?”

“Oh, Dad!”

“Well??” He began to tickle him.

“I guess not. He he!”

“You guess not??”

Giggling and squirming, Taka said, “OK, OK! He he he! Cut it out, Dad! Daaaad!”

“Well all right then!”

When Ahadi sat upright again, Taka quickly sat back against his father’s chest and snuggled into his mane.

“And when Aiheu had set this into motion, he showed them that it was not random, but part of his plan from the beginning. The cycles of birth, growth, death, and decay were like four legs—they had to work together to travel anywhere. Yet from his steadfast love, he would have his children accept the three agreements of their own free will.

“Some beings did not choose to accept these agreements. These spirit children were the first Nisei, which are the good spirits which oversee the balances of creation. They are often called the minor gods, though they are truly brothers to the animals. The major gods arose from the lake of milk, and they were all kindly like Aiheu.

“Then one day Koko the gorilla came along. He wanted a son, though no female would pledge to him. So he made a crude baby out of mud, but not having the wisdom of Aiheu it was only in the outward shape of one. He threw the mud into the lake and it melted, spoiling the milk. From the fouled milk of Mara arose the terrible race of the Makei. Just enough mud had been cast into the lake that they could take the shapes of Ma’at, but not the substance. And while they longed for pleasure, they were unable to experience it. Grief and anger, however, were theirs and they plumbed them to the depths for only when they were sad or angry did they feel alive.

“They cried out to Aiheu. ‘Lord! Why have you given us only pain? Where is our beauty, our happiness?’

“And Aiheu wept, for their suffering was dire. And he said, ‘Though the cause does not lie in your own actions, you are polluted. Do not be filled with resentment, but rather be mindful of the hope I offer you. Cleansing comes from within, in a clean heart and truthful witness. You will be sorely tempted by the mud, but you are also full of my milk, and it will overcome all else if you let it. Remember in your darkness that my light is with you, shining on the true path.’”

“What happened to the gorilla?” Mufasa asked.

“Koko confessed what he did before Aiheu, and he was pardoned. Aiheu gave him authority over the mud to purge the lake, and he became the keeper of the lake until it was finally drained at the end of the first era. Because he drank from the milk each day, he only began to age when the lake was no more, and his days were two hundred and seventy years.”

Taka said, “But if it kept him alive all that time, wasn’t Aiheu rewarding him for doing something wrong?”

“Who said it was a reward?” Ahadi asked with a sly grin. “How would you like to guard that watering hole for two hundred and seventy years?”

“I see what you mean.”

“Personally, I’m glad that if I take care of you, God willing I’ll die first as is the natural order of things, and I’ll never have to watch my sons die.”

“But I don’t want to watch you die either!” Taka said, pressing tighter against his father.

“Of course you don’t. But by then you and Sarabi will be married and have lots of cubs to take care of. The same way I miss my parents, but I spend most of my time thinking about you two and your mother. Someday you’ll have people to take care of, and it won’t hurt as badly as if it happened right now.”

He continued with the story: “I would not have you ignorant concerning death, for Aiheu has provided for his children. When an animal dies whose life is acceptable to God, it becomes one of the second Nisei. They oversee the welfare of those they left behind. The greatest of the second Nisei are the Great Kings of the Past and those whom Aiheu has blessed for good service. Koko became one of the second Nisei. And then there are animals whose deeds are constantly evil, and they join the Makei. These are doomed to walk the earth without bodies until they find the image of Aiheu within themselves and seek redemption through service. They are called the Makei, which means ‘the bringers of tears,’ for their suffering makes Aiheu weep.

“The first children of Aiheu were close to their God and to each other, for their spirits had roamed free together. But their children who were born to bodies of soil were not able to hear the words of the Lord. To keep the peoples from losing touch with him entirely, Aiheu anointed some children with holy chrisum that from birth they may hear him when he speaks. And these he called shamans. They were strictly charged to bring the word of God to his peoples with honesty and unselfishness. A lying shaman is worse than the Makei, and Aiheu will not weep for them nor will he repent of his anger.”

“Are there any lion shamans?” Taka asked. “Are they all monkeys like Makedde and Rafiki?”

Ahadi laughed a little. “There were a few lion shamans, but not very many. We have a lot of work to do, protecting our family and ruling responsibly. Many more were lionesses, but they usually have to hunt for their mates and cubs.”

“And monkeys don’t have as much to do?”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Ahadi said. “Every time I see Rafiki, he’s busy.”

“Yeah, just like you.” Taka sighed. “If God put us into this world to have fun, why do we have to work all the time?”

“Sometimes I wonder that myself,” Ahadi said, kissing him. “But you know what? When I’m out there patrolling the borders, I think about my sons and my mate safe at home, and it gives me a warm feeling inside. Somehow when I come home the love I get is much better because I feel like I’ve earned it. The hard times make the good times feel more special.” Ahadi smiled. “Story’s over. You can go play now.”

Mufasa ran and kissed Ahadi good-bye, then he bounded off like a liberated prisoner. Taka continued to snuggle against Ahadi’s soft mane.

“What’s wrong, Taka? Why don’t you go and play?”

“You said we’d talk later. I want to get it over with.”

“You’re shaking, my son. Why? I’m not angry with you!”

“You’re not? Honest?”

“I don’t say things I don’t mean.” He gently pressed Taka into his soft chest with a paw. “I just want to know what your little friends told you. I’m not even going to ask their names.”

“Oh.”

“You can play with Muffy now. We’ll talk later. I’m an experienced lion, and I can tell you things your young friends never even dreamed of. Then when they tell you nonsense, you can smile and think about how foolish they are.”

Taka smiled with amusement and started to walk off.

“Forgetting something?”

Taka turned, horrified. He rushed back to Ahadi and when the King bent down kissed him several times. “Dad, you know I love you. I just forgot. Honest!”

“I know. You see, I know Muffy loves me because he tells me every day. But you never have to tell me. Everything you do shows it.”

Taka stood on his back feet and put his paws into his father’s great mane. He stood there rubbing his face against his father for several moments before standing down and going to look for his brother. Ahadi reached up with his paw and felt the spot where his son had been, smoothing down his mane. “I’m going to have to say that again sometime.”