An Ace Up My Sleeve.

A Trick Up My Sleeve

Never teach everything to your pupil. This is equally applicable to your close kith and kin. Keep something up your sleeve. Following story bears testimony to same.

In the heart of a dense forest, where the sunlight barely pierced through the thick canopy of leaves, there lived a mighty lion, the undisputed king of the jungle. Despite his power and strength, the lion was not born knowing all the secrets of survival. Eager to learn the ways of life, he sought the guidance of a wise and cunning creature—the cat.

The cat, with her graceful agility and sharp wit, had survived countless dangers in the wild. She was much smaller than the lion, but what she lacked in size, she more than made up for in cleverness. The lion recognized this and humbly approached the cat to be his teacher.

“Teach me, Aunt,” the lion would say, his voice filled with respect. The cat, amused by the lion’s earnestness, agreed to take him under her wing. She taught him how to stalk prey silently, how to leap with precision, and how to use the cover of night to his advantage. Day by day, the lion grew stronger and more skilled, becoming even more formidable than before.

But the cat, wise as she was, always kept a few tricks to herself. She knew that no matter how close they became, there might come a day when the lion would forget his place and turn on her. So, she held back the knowledge of one crucial skill: how to climb a tree.

One day, as the lion roamed the forest, his confidence swelling with every successful hunt, a thought crossed his mind. “Why should I, the king of the jungle, defer to the cat? I am now strong and knowledgeable. I no longer need a teacher.” The lion’s pride began to overshadow his gratitude, and with it, a dangerous idea took root.

The next time the lion and the cat met, the lion’s demeanor had changed. His eyes, once filled with respect, now glinted with something darker. Without warning, he lunged at the cat, intending to assert his dominance and rid himself of his teacher.

But the cat, always alert, anticipated this betrayal. In a flash, she darted towards the nearest tree, her paws a blur as she expertly climbed to safety. The lion, frustrated and bewildered, clawed at the tree trunk, but his large, powerful body was no match for the nimble agility required to climb.

“Aunt, this is unfair!” the lion roared up at the cat, his voice tinged with both anger and desperation. “You never taught me how to climb a tree!”

The cat looked down at her former pupil with a mixture of pity and sternness. “Dear Nephew,” she replied calmly, “a teacher must always keep certain things to herself. It is a safeguard against the day when her student might forget his lessons in humility and turn against her.”

The lion, realizing the folly of his arrogance, hung his head in shame. He understood now that true wisdom is not just in learning skills, but in respecting those who impart them. The cat, secure in her perch, watched the lion slink away, a reminder that knowledge without wisdom can be a dangerous thing.

From that day on, the lion never again underestimated the importance of humility and respect. The cat continued her life in the forest, always a step ahead, with a few tricks still up her sleeve—just in case.

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Guchi.