The Lion and the Carpenter

A carpenter named Trust-good regularly worked deep in the forest, bringing his lunch and his wife along each day. There he encountered a lion named Spotless, and rather than fleeing in terror, the carpenter shrewdly decided that facing the powerful creature directly was safer than running, and offered to share his meal.

The lion, though naturally carnivorous, tried the carpenter's rich, sweet dishes and was so charmed by both the food and the gesture that he guaranteed the carpenter safe passage through the forest and asked him to keep the visits private, just between the two of them.

Their daily friendship continued happily until the lion's hungry followers, a jackal and a crow, grew suspicious of his contentment and pressed him for an explanation. When the lion admitted the source of his good fortune, the two followers immediately proposed killing the carpenter and his wife for meat -- a suggestion the lion refused outright, since he had personally guaranteed their safety, though he agreed to bring the followers along to ask for a treat on their behalf.

When the carpenter saw the lion approaching with his two disreputable companions in tow, his instincts warned him immediately that something had changed, and he and his wife climbed a tree for safety before the group arrived.

The lion, confused and hurt, called up to reassure his old friend that nothing had changed and he meant no harm -- but the carpenter's reply made clear that trust in one friend does not automatically extend to whoever that friend brings along: he did not fear the lion himself, but he had every reason to distrust the jackal's and crow's intentions, and stayed exactly where he was.