In the jungle of Maluba there lived a fly called Mozzie, and Mozzie could roar like a lion. He discovered his special ability while still very young, and as he grew up he traveled to the farthest reaches of Maluba, where no one would know him. As soon as he arrived he would let rip with his petrifying roar, moving here and there, frightening everyone. He would always use the same method, hiding behind bushes, and letting out a threatening roar; then he would quickly fly behind his victim and roar once again.
Expecting to see a terrifying lion, no one noticed the little fly, who repeated his tricks time and again while making fun of his victims, saying:
“You'll never see me. I am Leon, the fastest and strongest creature in the jungle.”
“See? I could destroy you with one swipe of my paw, before you even realized it.”
“Are you afraid? You would be wise to be so, for I am the most ferocious lion there is.”
Finally, terrified, all the animals ended up accepting Leon the lion as King of the Maluba jungle. And so Mozzie started living happily. He had all he wanted, and when he needed something or fancied a bit of fun, he only needed to get up to his roaring tricks.
However, one day, along came Tuga Tuga, a slightly crazy tortoise. They said he had spent years working in a circus with the human beings, a process that had sent him just a bit crackers . Mozzie wasn't going to miss this opportunity to have fun with a new arrival, so he prepared his usual fright.
But as soon as Tuga Tuga heard the invisible lion's roars and threats, he began killing himself laughing.
“Ha ha ha! A ghost lion! I once knew a ghost lion, as well as a bald donkey and a weasel with a pronounced limp ... and what fun they were when they danced! Come on, let's dance, little lion!”
All the animals began trembling, feeling sorry for poor Tuga Tuga. It was the first time anyone had dared to treat the terrible Leon in such a way, and surely the fierce lion would take no pity on the tortoise.
However, Mozzie could not bite or hit the tortoise: his only option was to continue roaring and threatening. Yet the crazy Tuga Tuga just kept laughing, paying no heed to the lion's furious warnings. After a few minutes it was clear that the lion wasn't going to carry out any of his threats, and a daring little bird joined in with Tuga Tuga, making fun of the lion. Mozzie tried scaring the little bird, but it didn't work. Gradually, the other animals began to join in. Finally, all the animals were laughing at the invisible Leon, calling him things like: “the lion that barks but doesn't bite”, “the King with no subjects” or “the phantom Lion King, the one that does nothing”...
And thus ended Mozzie's golden days of happiness; the fly that roared, that threatened, that lied so much...so much that when the time came to keep his word, there was no way he could.
马鲁巴丛林里住着一只名叫莫兹的苍蝇，莫兹会学狮子叫。他小时候就发现自己有这项特殊的本领，长大以后，他到马鲁巴最远端去旅行，那里没人认识他。刚一到地方，他就肆意吼叫，每到一处，都搞得人心惶惶。每次他都是先藏在灌木丛后面吼一声吓唬别人，然后飞到对方身后，再吼一声。
听到吼声的人都会觉得是狮子在叫，根本没人会注意一只小小的苍蝇。所以，莫兹总是能够玩成这套把戏，通过捉弄别人找乐子。他常说：
“你永远都看不到我。我是里昂，是这林子里跑得最快、最健壮的动物。”
“瞧见了吧？我一爪就能把你弄死，你都不知道自己是怎么死的。”
“怕了吧？放聪明点儿，怕我就对了，我可是凶猛无比。”
最后，所有的动物都吓怕了，他们都把狮子里昂奉作马鲁巴丛林之王，莫兹的日子也就过得很开心。他要风得风、要雨得雨，一旦需要什么东西或是想要找点儿乐子，只要吼叫几声、玩几个把戏就行。
可是有一天，图卡图卡来了，他是只乌龟，有点儿癫狂。他们说他以前和人类在马戏团共事多年，就是那段经历把他变成现在这样的。莫兹可没打算错过这个机会，他要好好调教调教这个新来的，于是他准备故伎重演，吓唬吓唬他。
可是，图卡图卡一听这只隐形的狮子又是吼叫又是吓唬他，突然玩儿命大笑了起来：
“哈哈哈！你这幽灵！我以前就认识一只幽灵狮子，我还认识一头秃驴和一只腿瘸得很厉害的黄鼠狼……他们跳起舞来可好玩啦！来来来，咱们也跳起来吧，小狮子！”
所有的动物都发起抖来，他们同情可怜的图卡图卡。这可是头一次有人敢这样对待里昂，这么厉害的狮子肯定不会放过这只乌龟的。
可是，莫兹根本伤不了这只乌龟，咬他也不是，打他也不是，他只能继续吼叫外加威胁。然而疯疯癫癫的图卡图卡还是笑个不停，根本不理会狮子发出的愤怒的警告。过了几分钟，大家发现狮子的威胁只是说说而已，一只胆大的小鸟加入了图卡图卡，和他一起取笑狮子。莫兹使劲儿吓唬小鸟，可惜一点儿用也没有。渐渐地，其他动物们也都加入了进来。最后，所有的动物一齐嘲笑这头隐身的狮子，给他起了很多外号，什么“光打雷不下雨的狮子”啦，“光杆儿国王”啦，还有“狮王魅影，徒有虚名”之类的……
就这样，莫兹的好日子画上了句号。这只又是吼叫又是吓唬人的苍蝇，曾经是那样的谎话连篇，真到了该兑现诺言的时候，他倒无能为力了。
let rip 无拘无束地行事
-petrify [ˈpetrɪfaɪ] v. 吓呆
-crackers [ˈkrækəz] adj. 癫狂的
-weasel [ˈwiːzl] n. 黄鼠狼
-limp [lɪmp] n. 跛行
-phantom [ˈfæntəm] n. 幻影
拿破仑曾说：“关上身后那扇恐惧之门，你就会知道面前那扇成功之门打开的速度有多快。”