The Lion Story
This is a parable-type story that is told in Zimbabwe to warn young people about the dangers of premarital relations in conjunction with True Love Waits.
Once upon a time there was a big cave in the Eastern Highlands near Nyanga. Inside the cave lived a huge, ferocious lion. It was incredibly strong with long, pointed teeth, large sharp claws and a huge tuft of hair at the end of its tail. In a nearby village there lived a beautiful young woman, so lovely that many of the young men in the village thought themselves to be in love with her. There were two men in particular that loved her and one day one of them was walking with her near the edge of the village.
The beautiful young woman asked him as they were walking arm in arm if he loved her. He replied, looking into her lovely face, "Of course I love you." Then as she pointed to the cave she said "If you really love me you will go into the cave over there and pluck three hairs from the tail of the lion and show them to the village elders so that everyone will know how much you love me." He knew all about the lion in the cave and that it had killed many men in their village. He looked into the mouth of the cave and felt very afraid. He looked at the beautiful woman and wanted her to love him. Then he turned, took a deep breath to gather up his courage, and headed into the cave. He never came out again.
Some time later the other young man who was in love with this same woman was walking arm in arm with her along the same path. As they passed nearby to the mouth of the cave, the beautiful young woman asked if he loved her and he replied that he loved her with all his heart. Then she added, "If you really love me you will go into the cave over there and pluck three hairs from the tail of the lion and show them to the village elders so that everyone will know how much you love me." He also knew about the lion in the cave and that it had killed many men. But he looked at the woman with a sign, "Oh, she was so beautiful," and he looked at the cave. He looked at the woman he loved again and then started walking toward the cave. As he neared the entrance to the cave a friend of his came running by shouting, " Stop!! Don't go in that cave. The lion will kill you. Remember our friend who went in the cave to prove his love for the very same woman and never came out alive?"
The young man looked back at the beautiful woman and knew he loved her very much, then he turned and looked into the cave and felt afraid, and then he walked away with his friend to live a very long, happy life.
There is a lion in Zimbabwe today. Do you know what it is? AIDS. Don't allow peer pressure from the world today to make you into the cave.