Children's Business Review

If You Can Make Someone Believe Something, They’ll Ignore Whatever Casts A Doubt On What They Believe To Be True

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Day broke and a graceful Aris soared high above a frost-covered forest, admiring what he surveyed below. As he flew through a clearing, Aris was surprised to see his young bear friend Clara roaming about. 

As he circled on silent wings, Aris noticed Clara continually shifting from her normal stance, all four feet planted firmly on the ground, to standing somewhat awkwardly on her hind legs. And the peculiarity didn’t end there as Clara accompanied this movement with a series of uncharacteristic growls. 

Curious, Aris glided down to the forest floor below, startling his young friend who had considered herself quite alone, particularly at that time of the morning. 

 “Good morning Aris,” Clara said with some embarrassment. “You must be wondering what on earth I’m doing,” Clara admitted with a tiny giggle.

“I am indeed wondering what has come over you this morning,” Aris replied with a small smile.

“My mother told me that if I was ever surprised and frightened by something in the woods, I should stand up on my hind legs and growl.” Clara began. “She said that if I did this, I would appear to be wild and ferocious and this would scare away whatever it was that frightened me. And so I’ve been practicing pretending like I’m a ferocious bear.”

“I see,” Aris began, “And how are you finding your practice so far?”

“I feel kind of silly doing this,” Clara admitted. “I’m not by any means a ferocious bear. Will acting like I’m wild and dangerous really scare away anyone or anything?”

“Do you have time for a story?” Aris asked.

******

As they clasped each other’s paw for support, two rather timid looking koala bears took their first steps into the South African jungle. As most people are aware, the jungles of Africa are some of the most diverse places on earth and yet the appearance there by this pair of koala bears caught every beast and bird who came across them by surprise. 

Physically, and in comparison to other koala bears, these two were rather commonplace and ordinary by anyone’s standard. Both were rather short and stocky with moon shaped heads and large rounded ears. The larger of the two, a male, had soft silver and white fur, a rather pronounced nose and small, dreamy eyes. The smaller koala, a female and wife to the male, had silvery fur which appeared to glisten in the sunlight. The thing that was perhaps most striking about her was a smile that conveyed instantaneously the kind soul behind it.

Now these koalas really had no business being in the jungle, in fact they had no business being in Africa at all. Mick and Maddie, that were their names, came from the Australian woods, a home that both were quite fond of. With relatively little to do each day, the pair could most often be found wedged in the branches of eucalyptus trees, either napping or eating. If they grew cold, they would move towards another branch with more sunlight and if the pair were hot, a shaider part of the tree could always be found. And, conveniently for them, the trees in which they spent so much of their time also sprouted eucalyptus leaves, the thing that koalas most want to eat. 

How Mick and Maddie ended up in Africa is a bizarre story. To make a long story short, the two mistakenly climbed into a truck filled with freshly cut eucalyptus trees, fell asleep and woke to find that the truck’s contents, which now included the two koalas, was in a shipping container en-route to a South African port.  

Getting back to our present story –  as the two koalas looked above them, they saw peering down from the canopy of trees dozens of small black faces, fringed with white fur. These faces, the koalas soon learned, belonged to a group of silver-grey vervet monkeys, a group which seemed to be continuously chattering and in perpetual motion. In fact, Mick, who attempted to watch a couple of the monkeys as they jumped from branch to branch, quickly became dizzy by their acrobatics display. 

“Why I certainly don’t understand what all the commotion is about,” remarked Mick to Maddie as the vervet monkeys grew increasingly loud and quite-obviously agitated.

“I think we’re the commotion!” Maddied whispered as she gave the monkeys one of her radiant smiles.

“G’Day!” Maddie cried out to the monkeys above. “It’s a lovely place you’ve got here.”

The flurry of activity above appeared to intensify until the monkey’s cries were almost deafening. Seeing that Maddie was growing tense, Mick took her paw in his. “There there pet, I’m sure everything will be fine,” he said quietly as the pair watched the activity above. 

After what felt like forever, for the koalas at least, a rather young and excited looking monkey ventured down and seated himself on a branch not far from the jungle’s newest inhabitants. 

“We’ve never seen anything like you before,” the monkey began. “You probably noticed that we are all quite excited and, if I can be perfectly honest,  don’t really know what to make of you two.”

Being a rather calm and unexcitable koala, Mick remained silent. This wasn’t surprising to Maddie as silence was the norm when Mick was concerned. While some other koalas questioned what exactly was going on in Mick’s head, Maddie liked to believe that she was married to a pensive, rather than dim-witted, koala. And so it was Maddie who broke the silence.   

“We’re admittedly an unlikely pair to be found here,” she began. “That said, we are very much looking forward to making a home in this great and beautiful jungle.”

As she peeled leaves from the branch she was sitting on and began chewing on them, the young monkey confided in Maddie, “This jungle can be a dangerous place. Are you sure that you’ll be safe here, being quite alone and without others of your kind?”

From the moment they stepped foot in the jungle, Maddie’s mind was preoccupied by the situation which the monkey sitting in front of her had just described and Maddie was, quite rightly, terrified. You see, in Australia koala bears have very few predators and have grown accustomed to a leisurely lifestyle without much ado. It was clear to Maddie that neither Mick nor herself were prepared for the dangers of jungle life. 

Rather than confiding her fear with the monkey, Maddie gave a look to Mick as if to say, “Please play along with what I’m about to do!” True to form, Mick’s expression remained impenetrable and he slowly tore a leaf from a nearby tree and began testing its taste. 

“We’re not so much bothered by the dangers you have here,” Maddie began. “Back home, my husband Mick is the King of woods. I dare say that there is nothing in this here jungle that would be of any nuisance to him.” 

With a look of surprise on her small face, the monkey turned from Maddie to Mick, making no effort to hide the fact that she was re-examining him, from his head to, if had one, his tail. From up in the trees the other vervet monkeys moved closer to better examine the Koala King and upon noting his calm, aloof demeanor began mummering among themselves. Minutes later the general consensus was that Mick certainly acted like a King and so must certainly be one. 

Their curiosity satiated, the monkeys took their leave of the Koala King and, given their propensity to travel great distances and chatter away, in the days that followed, the entire jungle heard of Royal’s arrival. 

As the sun began to set and the jungle’s daytime sounds gave way to its night time lullabies, Mick and Maddie, who had climbed a tree and were preparing their beds for the night, were startled to see the last rays of sunlight reflected off a small pair of yellow eyes, gazing at them from below.  

Despite having never seen a cheetah before, Maddie sensed the potential danger that she, and a surprisingly passive-looking Mick were in. The cheetah purred with delight, a delight that Maddie guessed didn’t bode well for the pair.

Before Maddie could think of something to say to the cheetah below, Mick had made his way down to the jungle’s floor and had begun stroking the cheetah’s fur. Caught quite off guard by the koala’s lack of fear, the cheetah was dumbfounded and couldn’t quite make out what to do with the creature that was not only stroking his fur but, moments later, nuzzling up against him.   

“The Koala King has taken a liking to you,” Maddie explained to the Cheetah below her. “You may visit from time-to-time.”

Now the cheetah had certainly never heard of a Koala King and was absolutely puzzled by the lack of fear that such a small and seemingly docile creature appeared to feel in his presence. And so, out of prudence, the cheetah gently disengaged himself from Mick’s grasp and with a nod to the two koalas, went on his way, looking for something else to serve as his dinner. 

Before going to sleep that night, Mick mentioned to Maddie how happy he was to see that their new home had cats like their old one. Realizing immediately that Mick’s poor eyesight had caused him to believe that the cheetah was in fact no different than a common housecat, Maddie breathed a sigh of relief that nothing disastrous had befallen Mick. 

The next few days were quiet for Mick and Maddie and it almost seemed as though they could relax and carry-on much like they had lived in Australia, rather oblivious to the goings-on around them. 

Their sense of peace proved short-lived and was interrupted one afternoon by the sound of howls and snarls from an approaching pack of wild dogs. Before they knew it, the two koalas found themselves encircled by a shaggy and ferocious looking group.

Noticing that several dogs were carrying fresh meat in their rather scary looking jaws, which were obviously the spoils of a recent hunt, Maddie had an idea. “G’Day to you. I’m happy to present to you the King of the Koalas and, if I may introduce myself, I am his personal chef.” 

The pack showed little interest in Maddie’s introduction nor in showing any degree of deference towards the King. 

Maddie carried on, “I see you’ve got some fresh meat there. As I said, I’m the King’s personal chef and I’d be happy to prepare your food for you. I can easily make it fit for a King, with his permission of course.” 

Maddie’s eyes darted over to Mick and hoped, as ever, that he understood and was prepared to support her plan. Pensive as usual, Mick showed no sign of concern and rather than concerning himself with the danger surrounding him, appeared to be fixated on the comings and goings of a nearby termite mound.

A noticeable shift in mood occurred among the pack as Mick and Maddie had gone from being merely a snack to creatures of interest. Without responding to Maddie’s introduction or offer, the pack’s leader dropped a large piece of game from his mouth and nudged it towards Maddie.

A tentative Maddie snatched up the food and scurried off out of sight. After several minutes she returned with the leader’s meat. By all appearances, the food looked much as it did before although Maddie had clearly portioned and presented in a pleasing way, as you might expect a king’s chef to do.

Almost reverentially, the dogs drew up to where Maddie had carefully laid the meat and each in turn took a taste. As Mick and Maddie watched, a look of satisfaction crossed one, and then another and then another dog’s face. Maddie was soon overwhelmed with compliments and she promised that, from time to time, when she wasn’t occupied with the King’s affairs, she would prepare the pack’s meat for them, as she had just done. 

“I didn’t know that we had anything here to prepare or to season food,” a surprised Mick remarked to Maddie as the wild dogs trotted away out of earshot. Maddie smiled contently and provided no response. 

As stories of Mick and Maddie spread, some of the jungle’s inhabitants were conflicted. You see, until the arrival of the koala bears, the undisputed King of the jungle was its Lion King. Now, with the arrival of a second King, there was confusion as to who would reign supreme over all the jungle’s creatures. 

After hearing from various monkeys, multiple birds, a pack of wild dogs and even a cheetah about Mick, and realizing that his sovereignty was in question, the Lion King grew curious and, as he would admit only to himself, somewhat wary. 

It’s not that the lion was timid, far from it in fact. You see, never before had a creature entered the jungle and so boldly challenged his authority. Seeing no other option but to see for himself this Koala King, the Lion King made his way to their corner of the jungle and proudly, but cautiously approached the koalas. 

Having anticipated this visit, Maddie bowed deeply before the Lion King while Mick, who was comfortably wedged in a tree, regarded them drowsily. Knowing that the Lion King was not only one of the most powerful creatures in the jungle but also among its wisest, in hushed tones Maddie told him the story of how Mick and she had mistakenly ended up in the jungle and spoke honestly of her dealings with the monkeys, the cheetah, the wild dogs and a myriad other animals they had encountered since their arrival. Hours later, as he left the pair of koalas and returned to his den, the true King of the Jungle purred and chuckled with delight. 

No one knows exactly what Maddie told him, but knowing that the Lion King had no quarrel with the King of the Koalas, none of the jungle’s inhabitants who otherwise may have caused a problem for Mick and Maddie gave the pair a wide berth. 

And so, with no one to bother them, Mick and Maddie grew old and lived entirely happy lives in their new jungle home.

******

As Aris’ story drew to a close, a newfound sense of self-confidence radiated off of Clara.  

“Thank you so much for your story Aris,” Clara stated. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some practicing to do!” 

And with that, Clara rose up on her hind legs and let out a ferocious growl which startled all within earshot, with the exception of Aris of course who watched on with a smile.