My name is Machichi.

They threw me off the cliff. I died at the bottom, all the bones in my body were broken and my hands were severed by a sharp rock. One year after my death, they threw my wife off the same cliff because she did not respect her widows robes. She made love to the butcher who told the baker she was a rocket ship in bed. The baker told the candlestick maker. And so on. At the bottom of the cliff, her hands and feet were severed by the same earth sharpened rock that claimed my hands one year before. It is whispered among the trees that the sharp rock is really a petrified lion, the grand king of the forest. Because he was a very proud lion, he lost his life to the bottom of the cliff. The story the trees whisper goes like this. One brittle cold forest winter, a old owl was searching for food: mice, berries, small children ice skating, anything edible. But there was nothing to be had, for it was a particularly brutal winter and the number of living things that had starved or frozen to death was no longer in the single digits. In her foraging, she came across the proud lion. He was extremely happy to see her for he was lonely for company on that bleak winter day. He babbled on, complaining of the lack of eats, boasting of this feat and that feat ultimately declaring that he was, without a doubt the worlds greatest leaper. Yes, he'd breeze past a comet in a single bound, he bragged. The owl was very wise. She challenged the lion to a duel of the leaps. Whoever lost would have to find the winner food for the rest of the winter. The lion jumped at the chance to show his prowess so they went to the cliff were he could be sure that every tree within a ten mile radius would be able to note his superior leaps. The owl said she would go first. The owl jump/ glided to the bottom of the cliff and landed as light as a feather. She called for the lion to make his leap. The lion jumped out into thin air, roared all the way down and did not land quite as light as the owl. Every bone in his body splintered and his brains came out to see the sky, for he was no cartoon character. The owl promptly ate off his paws and flew away, full to the brim. To this day the proud lion tries to fit over his truncated limbs, the severed hands and feet of cliff divers so he may chase the owl into Hades for tricking him during a moment of hungry, weakness of mind.