Elmer distracts the lion by grooming his mane

Elmer distracts the Lion by grooming his mane during a dangerous encounter on Wild Island. When the Lion threatens to eat him, Elmer recognizes that the animal’s disordered appearance matters more to him than his immediate hunger. A comb, a brush, and seven colored ribbons transform that concern into an opening: while the Lion learns to groom his mane, Elmer slips away without being noticed.

The encounter in the clearing

After parting from the Rhinoceros, Elmer drinks from a brook and returns to the trail. Ahead, an angry animal is roaring about having gone blackberrying the previous day and fretting over what his mother will say. Peering into a clearing, Elmer sees that the voice belongs to a Lion clawing at his mane. Blackberry twigs have caught in it, and each attempt to claw them out only makes the tangle worse. The Lion is not merely complaining to someone nearby; he is yelling at himself, so completely absorbed in his frustration that Elmer initially hopes to avoid disturbing him.

The trail runs through the clearing, and Elmer tries to crawl around its edge through the underbrush. He is almost back on the path when the shouting stops. The Lion has spotted him, charges, and skids to a halt only inches away. He demands to know who Elmer is and where he is going. Elmer answers that his name is Elmer Elevator and that he is going home. The Lion rejects that answer and says he is upset and hungry enough to eat Elmer immediately, rather than save him for afternoon tea. He picks Elmer up in his front paws to judge how fat he is. The grooming episode therefore begins not as a friendly exchange but as a narrow reprieve from a very direct threat.

A vulnerability Elmer can address

Instead of trying to fight or flee while held, Elmer asks why the Lion is especially upset. That question gives him the information on which his escape depends. The Lion identifies his mane as the problem: it is a dreadful mess, and his mother is due to visit that afternoon on the Baby Dragon. He fears she will stop his allowance if she sees him looking untidy. Even as he explains this anxiety, he is still calculating how many bites Elmer would make and insists that he will eat him afterward.

Elmer answers the immediate danger with an offer, not a challenge. He says he has just what the Lion needs in his pack to make the mane tidy and beautiful. The Lion accepts the possibility of help and puts Elmer down, though his promise is only to consider saving him for afternoon tea. This is a conditional reprieve, not evidence that the Lion has abandoned his appetite or become Elmer’s ally. Elmer has found a way to redirect the Lion’s attention by treating the source of his distress as a practical problem that can be solved.

The grooming lesson

Elmer opens his pack and takes out a comb, a brush, and seven hair ribbons in different colors. He chooses the Lion’s forelock for the demonstration, so the Lion can watch the process directly. Elmer brushes, combs, and brushes again until the twigs and snarls are gone; then he divides the hair into three sections, braids it, and ties a ribbon around the end. The sequence turns grooming into a visible, repeatable procedure rather than a vague promise to improve the Lion’s appearance.

The Lion watches closely as Elmer works. His mood visibly lifts, and when Elmer ties on the ribbon he is all smiles. The shift is striking: moments earlier the Lion was holding Elmer to assess him as food; now he is absorbed in the result of the grooming and eager to try it himself. He asks for the comb and brush, and Elmer hands them over. The exchange gives the Lion the tools and instruction he wants, while giving Elmer an opportunity to get out of reach.

Escape and place in the rescue journey

The Lion becomes so busy grooming his mane that he does not even notice Elmer leaving. The success of the maneuver depends on attention, not force: Elmer does not defeat or restrain the Lion, but makes himself unnecessary to the task once he has shown how to do it. Nor does the episode establish a lasting friendship or secure permission to pass. Elmer’s safety comes from the Lion’s absorption in grooming, and the threat is evaded rather than resolved through a change of heart.

The scene belongs to Elmer’s larger journey to rescue the Baby Dragon. The Old Alley Cat has told him that the young dragon was tied up and made to carry passengers and loads across the river, and Elmer has set out to help. The grooming encounter is one obstacle along the way, not the rescue itself. Later, Elmer reaches the riverbank, where a flagpole rope and crank are used to summon the dragon and report disorderly conduct to the Gorilla. The Lion scene precedes that crossing problem and shows Elmer repeatedly relying on what he carries and on close attention to an animal’s immediate concerns. Here the useful contents are ordinary grooming tools; their value lies in how precisely Elmer matches them to the Lion’s worry.

Narrative significance

The episode sets appetite and appearance against each other. The Lion has the power to eat Elmer, but his fear of his mother’s judgment and the loss of his allowance temporarily outranks that appetite. Elmer survives by noticing this imbalance and responding to the Lion’s expressed need. The scene’s danger remains real—the Lion threatens to eat him, lifts him, and never knowingly releases him to go—but comic details such as the blackberry twigs, the braided forelock, and the ribbon give the encounter a practical, almost domestic solution.

The seven ribbons also make the escape more than a lucky distraction. Elmer does not merely wave an object to catch the Lion’s eye; he demonstrates a skill, lets the Lion see its result, and hands over the tools so the Lion can continue without him. The Lion’s pleasure in grooming completes the reversal: his attention shifts from deciding how to eat Elmer to learning how to arrange his own mane. Elmer’s departure, unnoticed, turns that temporary change of focus into a successful escape and carries him onward toward the river and the rescue he intends to accomplish.