“’Then if it is my regret, it is no concern of yours.’ He drank anyway, and went home rejoicing. In a stream he saw his reflection. HE was a white lion like Mano; his fur white as the snow on the mountains, and his eyes as blue as the vault of Heaven above. Indeed on his way home the very enemies he had faced as obstacles ran from him or fell to the ground and kissed his feet.
“At last Habusu returned to his homelands. And he found the three brothers and terrified them, charging in among them and striking fiercely, for he feared no fang nor claw; immortal, like Mano, he suffered no wound from the creatures of Ma’at. At last, his enemies were set fleeing, and he stood proudly before his mate. ‘Look, love, look what I have done!’
“A terrible fear and sadness filled her. ‘Oh gods,’ she moaned, ‘what have you done to yourself, my husband?’
“‘I am like the Nisei, free of the accursed bonds of earth. Come, my wife, join me, and we will live together in love forever!’
“’This cannot be! One day I shall lie down and give up my Ka to Aiheu to be with him forever. Husband, you have left the path we walked together! Do you not see that one day we should be separated, and not for a while but forever??’
“Habusu was stricken with grief and he begged Aiheu to take the gift away but Aiheu said, ‘Did not Koko, my servant, try to warn you?? Did he not say there would be consequences??"
"’Then convince my wife to drink as well.’
"’What?? And double the mistake??’
And so before him she grew old while he remained young. Finally she was in her old age. She had become receptive, and he came to her, purring words of love into her ear. ‘Let us make love.’
“But she denied him, saying ‘I am sore and tired. No more shall I know my husband's pleasures. Find yourself a younger wife, that she may please you for a while before she too grows old. Someday you shall forget me.’
"Habusu was stricken. ‘Never! I shall never forget you! And I shall remain faithful, my dear wife, till we are reunited in death!’
"We will never be reunited. You have chosen a different path that leads you apart from me.” She kissed his cheek tenderly. “Goodbye, my love. I wish you all happiness.’
“‘Where are you going?’ he asked, frightened.
“‘I journey to the West, where Aiheu awaits me.’ She fondled his cheek with a paw, then slipped into death.”
Habu and Lissie huddled together. “Aiheu let him die, didn’t he?” Habu was agitated. “I mean, if he was very sorry, or did something very brave??”
Isha kissed him. “Let me finish. Habusu was devastated. ‘Oh Aiheu, that I should die some strange and painful way, I would yet be set free of this burden!"
“I knew it!” Habu said. “I knew there would be a way out!”
“Aiheu denied him.”
Habu’s ears fell flat against his head and he sighed. “That was a sad story.”
“Just wait.”
“Does he make her alive again? They’re together forever, aren’t they?? That’s it--that MUST be it!”
“Who’s telling this story? You, or me?” Isha kissed him. “He then awoke on the forest floor near the lake of Mara. His paw before him was golden. Before him stretched the lake. Though years had seemed to pass, it was only a dream, one which Aiheu granted him as a final warning to the foolish.”
“Yes!!” Habu gave Lisani a long, wet lick on the cheek, then went and rubbed his mother.
“Koko spotted him and started to forbid him access, but Aiheu spoke, saying, "He has come a long way. Let him refresh himself."
"‘Thank you, I should rather not, Lord. Not if you offered it freely.’"
"‘But if you will not drink, is there something else I may offer you?"
"‘Yes, my Lord. That I may be a good husband and father, and rule my land with wisdom and compassion."
"‘You have chosen the good portion, my son. A good lion shall you be, but also I shall protect you from your enemies all the days of your life, that no rival shall put fear in your heart."
“And when Habusu left the Lake of Mara, the Lord Aiheu drained it that no more would his children be tempted. And to this day when a lion is named Habusu it is in the hope that he will be as good as his namesake.”
Isha reached out and caressed her son’s gentle face with a paw. “That is why I named you Habusu. I can see the love in your heart, just as I saw it in your father...and I know that wherever he is, that he’s very proud of his son.”
Habusu sat content in his mother’s embrace and draped a paw over Lisani, who purred quietly.
THE TEST OF THE SUITORS:
Zazu escorted Nala from the dangers of the elephant graveyard back to the safety of the Pride Lands and the comforting presence of her mother. “Good evening, Sarafina. Never fear! I’m returning your little girl safe and sound.”
“Safe and sound?” Fini smiled, but looked a little uneasy. “Was there some doubt?”
Nala froze, waiting for the truth to out.
“Oh, you know how cubs are,” Zazu said, passing it off with a good-natured laugh. “She wandered a little too far away for her own good. Things got kind of dull at the watering hole and she went chasing rabbits. Maybe I’m too strict, but I sent her right back home. Better safe than sorry, I always say.”
Sarafina relaxed and the tip of her tail stopped twitching and moved casually back and forth. “I appreciate that.” Fini nuzzled Nala and pawed her.
Nala gradually realized she was not going to get a good cuffing. She looked at the bird she had so recently deceived, taunted, humiliated and endangered and quietly mouthed, “Thank you.”
Zazu smiled and winked at her. “Well, I’d best be off. I’m going home to see my Mum. That brother of mine has been next to useless. You think he’d visit her once in a while, living practically in the next tree while I have to fly over six quarrains!”
Fini smiled. “At least you are a good son.”
Nala nodded in hearty assent. Indeed, things were better between Zazu and her after that evening, and she never called him a “dodo” again.
“Mom, how far is six quarrains?”
“That’s twice as far as three quarrains. How should I know!” Fini laughed. “Well, Nala. What did Simba want you to see? Was it as great as he said it was?”
“Not really. Zazu was right--it was kind of dull.” She thought back over the things that had happened, looking for one that could be safely discussed. Suddenly her face was awash with irritation. “There’s something bothering me.” She scratched behind her ear.
“What’s bothering you?” Fini asked, grooming her behind the offending ear. “A flea? I hate those.”
“No, I mean something I heard today. Zazu said I was betracked to Simba. He said we were going to be married someday and there was nothing I could do about it.”
“Oh, you mean betrothed!” She smiled and cuddled Nala to her side. “That’s something that you should be glad about. When Simba has his mantlement, he will put his paw on your shoulder and ask you to be his wife. The moment you accept, you will be a princess, and someday Queen of the Pride Lands.”
“Why would I want to marry him??”
“I thought he was your best friend!”
“That’s just it! It’s so weird!”
Sarafina laughed softly. “It’s time we had a talk--lioness to lioness. Honey Tree, it’s great when you get older and you want romance. But friendship is the most important part of marriage. You are laying on my side right now, and you feel safe and happy. Someday when you’re a big lioness, you’ll still want to feel safe and happy, and those are the times you’ll lay touching his soft, warm body and listening to his heart beat. When you’re tired from hunting all night and nursing cubs all day, and your eyes are red and swollen, he’ll look at you and say ‘My beautiful Nala,’ and you’ll know he means it with all of his heart. That will mean a lot to you then. And when he comes back from patrol with grass and sticks in his mane and mud on his legs, you’ll call him, ‘My handsome Simba,’ and he’ll know you mean it with all of your heart.” Sarafina touched Nala with her tongue.