Lion Called Christian Read Online Free PDF

challenge or defy us. Sometimes they had incredible clarity and brightness, but sometimes they could be opaque, unknowable, and impenetrable, and stare straight through us, beyond to a dimension from which we were excluded.
    Christian possessed a memory for people and places, and demonstrated a high degree of intelligence compared to other lions we met. He quickly learned how to open the door of the basement if it was not locked. We kept his food for the day on the tops of various cupboards in the office at the back of the shop, and he frequently managed to cleverly climb high enough on other furniture, in order to stand up on his hind legs and knock his food to the floor.
    Unlike most other members of the cat family, lions are gregarious and social animals living in an extended family pride. Christian undoubtedly regarded us as his family, and was tremendously affectionate toward us. Lions greet each other with a ceremonial touching of heads, and we often knelt to enable him to do this with us. Any parting from him, regardless of its duration, involved another fond greeting, a lick and a cuddle. He enjoyed being close, often either leaning against us or actually sitting on us. Sometimes lie would dramatically leap from the ground into our arms, which was a greeting for us that no one had ever seen before with lions. Of course, he could be arrogant and demanding, but if he had to be disciplined, either verbally or with a smack, he accepted it and did not bear any resentment. He was very much aware if we were displeased with him, and if he felt it was deserved, he would make obvious and usually successful attempts to win us over again.
    Christian was particularly unaggressive and un-possessive about his food, which indicated that in some respects he was an exceptional lion. He had no other animals to compete with and he was fed regularly, both of which must have been contributing factors. But people who knew a great deal more about lions than we did were always astounded by his attitude toward his food. He had a healthy appetite, and in his eagerness he often knocked his food out of our hands before we had time to place it on the floor for him. But we could take his food away from him if it was necessary, even out of his mouth. He loved the marrow inside bones, but as he was unable to get it out, he gently ate it from the tips of our fingers.
    Lions depend to a large extent on their mouths for communication and contact. He licked us to show his affection. His rough tongue always tested surfaces for their taste and texture. He had sharp milk teeth, and while he enjoyed mouthing our hands and arms, he quickly learned not to bite us. There were moods, however, in which his mouth just hung open, waiting to be filled. Kneecaps were a suitable height. Our clothes were often damaged by his teeth or claws getting caught, and we sometimes resorted to wearing practical bottle-green boiler suits.
    A lion needs to exercise his claws and jaws. In the first few weeks, several table and chair legs were damaged. However, after a few smacks he gave this up, especially when he realized he could use the banisters on the stairs in the shop instead. Lions are creatures of habit. They are earthbound in comparison with other cats, and he did not jump all over the furniture. But he enjoyed surveying his domain from a height, and would often sit on tables and chests of drawers. Fortunately, he preferred the stairs, which gave him greater height, and he would sit with a paw dangling elegantly over the side. Actually, he damaged very little furniture, and this only occurred if he slipped and dug his claws in for support. One day, rather unwisely, a very expensive table had been elaborately set with cutlery, china, glasses, and candles in the middle of the shop. We heard the sound of breaking glass and immediately knew what had happened. In the confusion Christian had moved his weight to one side of the table, and he and the tabletop crashed to the floor.