In the velvet blackness of an African night
- at the hour before dawn when the land is full of dreams -
a lone voice heralds the new day.
As the red disc of the sun rises,
the one voice becomes many
until the Pride Lands echo with song.
The distant mountain floats above the mist.
Vast herds move across the golden plain,
and the heavens come alive with storks and doves,
kingfishers, and flamingos.
~
High on Pride Rock, Mufasa the Lion King waits,
watching as the creatures of his domain gather below
to celebrate the arrival of the newborn Prince.
~
Rafiki, keeper of the mysteries, anoints Prince Simba's brow,
sprinkles the cub with ceremonial dust,
and raises him to the skies
for all of heaven and earth to see.
~
Mufasa's jealous sibling, Scar
sits in the shade, taking bitter pride in his absence
from the sacred ceremony, scheming and dreaming of the day
he will usurp the throne
~
Zazu the hornbill, Pride Rock's chief of protocol,
informs an indifferent Scar
his truancy has not gone unnoticed.
Confronted by Mufasa
Scar hides revenge beneath a cloak of scorn.
~
Each sunrise finds Simba in the royal cave
nudging his father from his sleep, begging him to join
in the immemorial games that ensure
the survival of the species.
~
From the peak of Pride Rock,
father and son survey the Lion King's domain.
Crossing his kingdom, Mufasa speaks earnestly
of the Circle of Life - the endless chain
that links all living things,
from the crawling ant to the leaping antelope.
~
Too young to read the fury in his uncle's eyes
Simba tells Scar all he has learned that day -
how he, not Scar, will become the Lion King.
Sly Scar exacts a promise from the cub,
a pledge that Simba will never venture near
the forbidden place where elephants go to die.
~
A graveyard!
Scar has planted a secret Simba must share at once
