The king of the forest, the lion, was basking in the sun. Suddenly, a monkey came and gave a jerk to his tail! It even poked him with a stick!
The lion was more annoyed than surprised. The monkey didn't care at all. It made faces at the lion and jumped away playfully.
A fox, who had been watching the whole incident from nearby, said to the lion, "Such great disrespect to the king of the forest! And you didn't say anything to him!"
The lion smiled gently and said, "The time to respond hasn't passed yet. Just wait—you'll see everything."
A few days later, the monkey suddenly came in front of the lion again, and this time the lion killed it with a single slap.
The fox, surprised, asked the lion, "That day the monkey did so much wrong, and you said nothing. But today it didn't really do anything, yet you killed it!"
The lion replied, "This is politics! After that day, the monkey kicked the bear from behind! It swung by holding the elephant's trunk! It danced on the rhino's back! It tickled the hyena! It provoked the tiger! And it told everyone, 'I don't even obey the king! Who are you then?'"
"If I had punished it that day, everyone would have said I was abusing my power as the king."
"But today, you'll see—everyone will come and say, 'Thank you, Your Majesty!'"
"Do you understand? Sometimes you have to let someone rise too high, so that when you strike them down hard, no one minds—and the problem is eliminated completely!"