Shimshon and the Golem, Part 2: Chapter 3
| July 4, 2023“Now’s your chance!” Sebastian screamed, throwing open the gate. “Get out!”
Sebastian stopped moving. Only Baruch crept forward, his breath coming quickly as panic set in. He turned the corner and spotted the lion crouched beside the carcass of a half-eaten deer. Baruch froze.
“Take the bucket of food!” Sebastian hissed behind him.
Baruch moved backward, never taking his eyes off the giant beast. He reached out behind him and felt Sebastian putting the heavy bucket into his sweaty palm. He walked forward again, stopping a safe distance from the lion. Slowly, he kneeled and placed the bucket on the floor. As the metal bucket met the hard ground there was a clanking noise, and the lion jerked its head up.
The lion’s yellow eyes bored into Baruch, sizing him up from head to toe. Its long tongue licked its chops.
“Throw the meat. Do it! Now!”
Baruch crouched, eyes still locked on the lion, grabbed the meat, and tossed it in front of the lion.
The lion glanced at the meat, then its eyes flickered back to Baruch.
“Good, now get out!”
Sebastian and Baruch began walking toward the gate.
Suddenly, the lion let out an ear-splitting roar and leaped to its feet. Sebastian screamed and threw himself past the gate, but Baruch tripped over something on the floor and flew headfirst into the bars. He crumpled to the floor, dazed.
Through the haze floating before his eyes, Baruch could see the lion approaching at a fast pace. He heard the gate just inches away clang shut with dreadful finality.
Baruch forced himself to his feet, ignoring the throbbing in his head.
“Open the gate, Sebastian!”
Sebastian locked the gate and shook his head, his expression sorrowful and panicky.
“I’m so sorry, I cannot. If that lion gets out, we’re all doomed.”
Baruch turned and watched the lion walk toward him, its powerful body flexing as it prepared to pounce. Up close, he noticed all the scars on the lion’s body he had not noticed before.
“Hashem, pleas—”
The lion leaped, claws outstretched.
Baruch ducked, rolled across the floor, and scrambled toward the bucket still resting on the floor. He scooped the bucket up and grabbed some loose rope scattered across the floor among the pieces of meat.
As the lion turned to attack again, its tail swishing, its eyes gleaming, Baruch deftly wove the rope through the bucket handle and made a powerful knot.
“Back! Get back!”
He was surprised to hear how fearless and powerful his voice sounded as it echoed around him. The lion hesitated, sizing him up anew.
“Back, I say!” Baruch roared, swinging the rope so that the bucket smashed on the floor in front of the lion.
“Try to circle your way around him, boy!” Sebastian encouraged him from behind the locked gate. Create some space for yourself and I’ll unlock the gate!”
“Why don’t you come in here and help me?” Baruch muttered as the lion moved toward him cautiously.
“What good will that do, boy? Why should we both perish?”
“With Hashem’s help, I will never despair, Sebastian. It’s not the lion one needs to fear, but the Creator of all things, Who controls His world and determines if they might hurt someone!”
The lion leaped, and Baruch was ready. He swung the bucket through the air, and it connected powerfully with the lion’s massive jaws. The lion literally spun in midair, crashing into the bars before landing totally dazed.
“That’s it!” Sebastian yelled. “Keep it up, boy! Wear it down!”
Again the lion charged, and again Baruch delivered another devastating blow with the bucket.
Finally, the lion grunted and collapsed, panting heavily with its head resting on its giant paws.
“Now’s your chance!” Sebastian screamed, throwing open the gate. “Get out!”
But to Sebastian’s shock, Baruch shook his head.
Baruch walked closer to the lion, the rope still in his hand, the bucket dragging along on the floor.
“The scars? How did it get them?”
“Get out first and then ask me! Have you gone crazy! Get out before it attacks you again!”
“Just answer the question.”
“Trainers. Many, many human trainers who attempted to crush the lion into obedience to perform for the king. The lion suffered many whippings, and the trainers… well, they also suffered in the end.”
“Imagine if the lion could be tamed, Sebastian. What if… what if this lion was our key to getting out of here?”
Baruch knelt, only a few feet away from the lion. The lion opened its eyes and growled deep in its throat.
“Don’t—” Baruch’s fist tightened around the rope.
The lion’s growl stopped.
“It’s going to kill you boy, just like the others. Stop playing the hero and get out! You’ve already pulled off a miracle, now get out while you still can!”
“Not yet, Sebastian. Everything has led to this moment.”
Baruch stood up, moving very cautiously, never taking his eyes off his adversary. He retrieved a piece of meat and held out a hand toward the lion.
The lion suddenly leaped to its feet, teeth bared, and swiped at Baruch’s hand.
“No!” Baruch’s booming voice froze the lion in its tracks. Baruch shook the metal bucket warningly. “I’m trying to help you!”
The lion and Baruch stared at each other for what seemed like forever, and then, incredibly, the giant beast moved forward, grabbed the meat directly from Baruch’s hands, and swallowed it in one gulp. Sebastian was speechless. He also forgot that the gate was open.
Baruch retrieved another piece of meat and fed the lion. Again, and then again….
The lion stared at him, as if he were the strangest creature it had ever encountered. Then, still within striking distance of Baruch, it rolled over on its side and closed its eyes. Baruch reached out a hand, and stroked its side once. The lion growled but didn’t snap at him.
Baruch walked to the gate, rope and bucket still in hand.
Sebastian slammed the gate shut and stared at Baruch incredulously. “You’re completely insane.”
“Maybe so, but I think I know how we’re getting out of here.” Baruch glanced at the sleeping lion. “All three of us….”
to be continued…
(Originally featured in Mishpacha Jr., Issue 968)
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