The Lion and
The Mouse
One day a Lion lay asleep in the jungle.
A tiny Mouse, running about in the grass and not noticing where he was
going, ran over the Lion's head and down his nose.
The Lion awoke with a loud roar, and
down came his paw over the little Mouse. The great beast was about to open
his huge jaws to swallow the tiny creature when "Pardon me, O King, I beg
of you," cried the frightened Mouse. "If you will only forgive me this
time, I shall never forget your kindness. I meant no harm and I certainly
didn't want to disturb Your Majesty. If you will spare my life, perhaps
I may be able to do you a good turn, too."
The Lion began to laugh, and he laughed
and laughed. "How could a tiny creature like you ever do anything to help
me? And he shook with laughter.
"Oh well," he shrugged, looking down
at the frightened Mouse, "you're not so much of a meal anyway." He took
his paw off the poor little prisoner and the Mouse quickly scampered away.
Some time after this, some hunters,
trying to capture the Lion alive so they could carry him to their king,
set up rope nets in the jungle. The Lion, who was hunting for some food,
fell into the trap. Her roared and thrashed about trying to free himself
but with every move he made, the ropes bound him tighter.
The unhappy Lion feared he could never
escape, and her roared pitifully. His thunderous bellows echoed through
the jungle. The tiny Mouse, scurrying about far away, heard the Lion's
roars. "That may be there very Lion who once freed me," he said, remembering
his promise. And he ran to see whether he could help.
Discovering the sad state the Lion
was in, the Mouse said to him, "Stop, stop! You must not roar. If you make
so much noise, the hunters will come and capture you . I'll get you out
of this trap."
With his sharp little teeth the Mouse
gnawed at the ropes until they broke. When the Lion had stepped out of
the net and was free once more, the Mouse said, "Now, was I not right?"
"Thank you, good Mouse," said the
Lion gently. "You did help me even though I am big and you are so little.
I see now that kindness is always worth while."
Moral of the story: Even the strong
sometimes need the friendship of the weak.
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