He was a formerly respected leader of the Animal Kingdom, but this
particular lion had fallen into disgrace due to his outlandishly
unkinglike cowardice. He and the little girl became fast friends, and
they journeyed together in search of Oz and, later on, Glinda the Good.
It was on their journey to locate Glinda the Good that they happened to
stray into the very forest where the Witches' souvenir was staying. As
they walked through the vast forest, a large and tawny tiger approached
the Cowardly Lion and bowed subjectively before him.
"Welcome, O King of Beasts!" quoth the tiger. "You have come in good
time to fight our enemy and bring peace to all the animals of the forest
once more."
"What is your trouble?" asked the Cowardly Lion in a quiet voice.
"We are all threatened," answered the tiger, "by a fierce enemy which
has lately come into this forest. It is a most tremendous Monster, like
a great spider, with a body as big as an elephant and legs as long as a
tree trunk. It has eight of these long legs, and as the Monster crawls
through the forest he seizes an animal with a leg and drags it to his
mouth, where he eats it as a spider does a fly. Not one of us is safe
while this fierce creature is alive, and we had called a meeting to
decide how to take care of ourselves when you came among us.
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