"Don't be silly," said the hunter. "Who ever heard of a lion giving up. Lions don't give up, lions fight to the end. Lions eat up hunters! So I must shoot you now and make you into a nice rug and put you in front of my fireplace and on cold winter evenings I will sit on you and toast marshmallows."

"Well, my goodness, you don't have to shoot me," said the young lion. "I will be your rug and I will lie in front of your fireplace and I won't move a muscle and you can sit on me and toast all the marshmallows you want. I love marshmallows," said the young lion.

"You what?" said the hunter.

"Well," said the young lion, "to be absolutely honest with you, I don't know if I really love marshmallows or not because I've never tasted one, but I love most things and I love the sound of the word marshmallow and if they taste just like they sound--mmmmmmmmmmmmm!--I just know I will love them."

--Shel Silverstein, Lafcadio: The Lion Who Shot Back