"province" is even closer- when they said "in the city" he said- maybe there's a lion walking around there so they say- ok, in the "province"- he's very close to you he answers, 'i am afraid of the lion between the streets.' "ways" refers to an inter-city way- from here to the far away city, in the province is like in the neighborhood so he will say- maybe there's a lion here in the streets.beforehand- you might hear the argument when he said "on the way" - meaning the way is far and there might be a legitimate fear of a lion maybe there really will be a lion between cities...but when they tell him- "it's right here" close to you- he makes up an even stranger excuse- that the lion might be between the streets...