Liberian Riddle On A Mural

Below is written this Liberian riddle which you can also watch presented in the following video...

The Riddle...

A man has a dream that a he is being chased by a lion.  So then he climbs up a tree.  Once he is up the tree he realizes there is a snake there with him!  The snake starts running behind him with the intention of biting him with its deadly poison.  So then the man ties a rope on a branch and starts to let himself down from the tree.  Then the man looks down and below him is an alligator waiting for him in the river below!  The man looks back up and sees a rat at the top of the rope chewing on it!  So the question is what must the man do in order to escape?  


[scroll down for answer]

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Wake up!