'Her charm never failed to entrance me.
I wasn't a Buddhist but I was almost sure that
she had been a queen in an earlier life'
[ندعوك للتسجيل في المنتدى أو التعريف بنفسك لمعاينة هذه الصورة] I walked through the crowd of noisy tourists and into
the wild animal section. There she was, reclining gracefully
on a path blanketed with grass. Rani, the queen of all animals.
She stretched her hind-legs gracefully and stood up elegantly.
Although it was the middle of the afternoon, the wild-animal section
was completely deserted. The early autumn sun shone directly
into her eyes and for a moment I thought I saw a murderous
look in them. I shook my head unnerved -
must have been a trick of light, I told myself.
Nevertheless that look had scared me.
I gazed at the weathered sign outside her cage,
a sign I had seen a million times. The memory of the first time
I saw her flashed before my eyes. A stocky, clumsy child of seven,
I had been awed by her silent, delicate walk and
her clear melting brown eyes, so seeing you almost feared them alone.
In the five years that had passed I had come to see her
at least twice a month. Her charm never failed to entrance me.
I wasn't a Buddhist but I was almost sure that
she had been a queen in an earlier life.
A group of Japanese sight-seers approached, chattering away
in their native language. Glancing at my watch I realised
it was time to be getting back to Mum and Dad. Stealing
one last look at my mentor, I walked away. As I trudged to the zoo cafe
I reflected on a piece of history I had heard the other day.
It had been about a South Asian King called Jahangir -
it was said in his Kingdom it was not he but his wife Noor-Jahan
who took care of the state affairs. I knew it was like that
with Rani - the lion may be the king of the jungle, but she ruled it.
I had come back for a last look at Rani before we went home.
She tossed her head proudly and raised a paw as if in greeting.
As I watched a keeper climbed into her cage,
dropped a chunk of raw meat and turned to go back.
It was as if it had been rehearsed. She lunged out at him
and clawed at his neck, then as he lay limp and bleeding
she fixed her attention on the door. An aristocratic leap
and she was out. The few people there were fixated to
the spot as if she was some kind of a hypnotist.
I suddenly saw the ravenous look in her now wild eyes
as she rolled them and spotted something in the trembling crowd.
A hyper two year old who was jumping up and down,
screaming "Look mummy, look!" as his poor mother tried to restrain him.
A faster version of the fashionable walk I so admired and
he was on the ground her face inches above his.
I had no idea what to do. A vague thought formed
"Had I not always thought I knew her so well? Could I not stop her now?"
With no idea about what I was doing I ran towards the child.
"No!". Although we were outside the word echoed in my head.
She looked up, amazed that anyone dared oppose her.
Her curved paw reached out and before I had time to register pain
or exclaim at the nauseous sight of my own blood
...everything went black.
Despite everything I went back to see her before we went home.
But now her elegant body and beautiful eyes
looked wild and dangerous, her gaze desperate to kill.
I saw no queen now. I saw only a killer.
[ندعوك للتسجيل في المنتدى أو التعريف بنفسك لمعاينة هذه الصورة]
موضوع: The Leopard Queen by TheBookThief من قصص الحيوانات باللغة الإنجليزيه 
