he Crossbow Incident

aron Von Lodge was the head of a small country known as Lilliland near Switzerland. The time was the early 1900s.

Lilliland, like Switzerland, was a neutral country in time of war. Lilliland also has a no-guns-allowed and no-hunting law. This was a very strict law to be observed by everyone. The Baron was very happy with the law passed down from one generation to another from the next from the Von Lodge Royal Family heads of state. Animals were meant to run free in the Alpine Mountains and forests of Lilliland.

One day the Baron was informed that two young men were seen shooting their crossbows at animals in the mountains. There was no proof and the Baron let the matter drop for a time.

The two young men thought that hunting and shooting animals was the mark of a great sportsman and a true sign of being a man. They did not take the no-hunting law seriously since they would be going way up into the mountains and no one would hear the crossbows' arrows, unlike the noise a gun would make. The two young men planned their hunting trip for months in advance and placed food for the deer they wished to attract and shoot with their crossbows.

The day was at hand and the two hunters saw a mother deer with her two young fawns eating the food they had placed, giving them an easy shot at the deer. They approached the deer while she was eating with her youngsters from opposite sides of the deer and both shot at the same time. They did just what they had planned but the deer heard a sound and jumped away. The crossbows were fired, missing the target but hitting each other since they were on opposite sides of the deer. The hunters were both hit by the other's arrow and they limped to the Lilliland Hospital to have the arrows removed. They confessed to what they did and were not respected for many years by the people of Lilliland for their cruelty to animals. They learned that shooting is not the sign of a mature man but that kindness is the sign of a good person.