Horse Frightened by a Lion – exhibited 1763 George Stubbs 1724-1806
Year 8 students have been using their imagination to conjure up a story, inspired by the narrative painting by George Stubbs – Horse Frightened by a Lion. Well done to Nerija Rusteika in 8H for this enthralling tale! We are PROUD!
“Once there lived a handsome, young foal. His name was Albatross. He lived with his mother in a beautiful meadow, where all you could see was lush grass tipped with bijou drops of morning dew that shimmered like the stars. The area was overflowing with daisies and dandelions and all sorts of other flowers. You could never avoid stepping on a couple flowers for every step you took. Everything was bursting with life – bumblebees were buzzing, birds were chirping. Rays of sunlight frolicked about in between the leaves of the ancient oak trees that shielded the meadow from whatever lies beyond. Albatross’s mother always told him to never go far into these woods. Albatross did not like being told what told what to do, but he listened to his mother anyway.
One lovely morning, Albatross went out for a stroll. He trotted along all by himself, and took a deep breath, taking in the pleasant aroma of cool, fresh air with a hint of lavender. Suddenly, a large dark silhouette appeared in front of him, and he felt a tickle on his muzzle. Terrified, he stood on his hind legs and waved his front legs around in fear, trying to get whatever was on his face away from him. He landed back on all fours and looked around in panic and confusion. Was he just imagining it? Then, an orange, monarch butterfly fluttered into his vision. The young horse sighed in relief, realising that what he just saw was a large butterfly that sat on his nose. Feeling playful, he cantered towards the patterned insect and attempted to catch it without hesitation. The butterfly barely dodged his attempt to catch it and dashed as fast as it could away from the horse. The little Albatross took this as a challenge and galloped towards it. He was so focused on catching the butterfly that he did not even notice how far the butterfly had led him.
His eyes darted all over the place, trying to find out where he is. He whinnied and neighed, crying for help. He was only answered by the eerie silence of the forest. However, he did not sit around and wait for his demise for long. He stopped sulking and determined, he tried to find his way back home. While wandering seemingly aimlessly for an hour or two, he was exasperated and decided to find somewhere to rest and calm down while he thinks of a way to get home safely.
He glanced around and found a plain rocky hill he had not seen before. He clambered his way atop the hill and decided to immediately rest in a small caved out rock that he thought could protect him from rain. In an instant, he felt an excruciating pain in his left foreleg. He screeched in utter agony and snatched his leg back towards himself. Through blurred vision he saw it laying in the dark, ready to pounce on its prey. Its mane looked dirty blonde, just a few tones darker than the rest of its fur. Its muzzle was quite clearly visible as it was sticking out in the sunlight. It was snarling aggressively, baring it’s mucronate teeth at him with red blood stains around its mouth and teeth. It was a hungry lion, who had starved for days and had finally found its next meal.
Albatross’s face contorted into a terrified expression. He was crying for help as loud as he could – snorting, squealing and neighing; but it was no use. The only way out now was to escape. He bolted down the jagged hill, but this was also a big mistake, because the jagged rocks on the mountain had cut into his leg further rendering him unable to move forward. The lion was quick to catch up. It pounced on Albatross’s back, dug his razor-like claws into his sides and sank his teeth into his neck. Albatross screamed in torment, flailing around in sheer desperation but that only made it worse. The creature forced its teeth deeper into his neck. Crimson blood was gushing out of the poor foal’s neck and sides. Everything else was a blur. The next thing he knew, he was lying in a pool of his own blood. He felt cold and numb. He could not take the torture anymore. His heavy eyelids reluctantly closed. Everything went dark.”