The Lioness，the Lion and the Cubs 母狮子、雄狮子和小狮子
The lioness is much smaller than the lion,and her form is more slender and graceful.She is devoid of the mane of her lord and master,and has four or five cubs at a birth,which are all born blind.The young lions are at first obscurely striped and spotted.They mew like cats,and are as playful as kittens.As they get older,the uniform color is gradually assumed.The mane appears in the males at the end of ten or twelve months,and at the age of eighteen months it is very considerably developed,and they begin to roar.Both in nature and in a state of captivity the lioness is very savage as soon as she becomes a mother,and the lion himself is then most to be dreaded,as he will then brave almost any risk for the sake of his lioness and family.
母狮子个头比雄狮子小得多，身材也比雄狮子苗条优雅得多。她身上没有一家之主雄狮子那样的鬃毛。母狮子一次能产四五只幼仔，刚出生的小狮子什么也看不见。起初，小狮子身上的条纹和斑点不太清楚，它们像猫一样咪咪叫，像小猫一样顽皮。再大一点，它们身上的花纹逐渐清晰起来。到了十个月或者十二个月的时候，小雄狮子的身上开始长鬃毛。十八个月大的时候，小狮子就发育得差不多了，并且开始吼叫。无论是在野生状态下，还是在圈养状态下，母狮子一旦做了母亲，性情就变得非常暴烈；而此时的雄狮子也最可怕，因为，为了老婆和孩子，它会不顾一切。