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The Lion and the Mouse
A long while ago in a country far away there lived a fierce and handsome lion. Once, when weary from hunting and faint from the heat of the day, he returned home to his lair and fell into a deep sleep.
Whilst he slept a small mouse passed by and, not looking where he was going, absent-mindedly wandered into the lion's den. His tiny eyes slowly grew accustomed to the gloom and, as they did so, they opened wider and wider - there, confronting him, was the most fearsome creature he had ever seen. For a brief moment he was rooted to the spot in terror, then in a sudden panic he sprang towards the door. In so doing he stumbled and tripped over the lion's nose and woke him.
The frightened mouse scrambled frantically to pick himself up, but the lion's great paw clapped down upon him. He thought his end had surely come. And it is true the lion would have made a meal of him, there and then, had the mouse not found his voice.
'Spare me, mighty one,' he pleaded. 'I have accidentally offended you I know, but your paw is too honourable to stain with so insignificant a prey.'
The great lion looked quizzically at the mouse and considered the matter without speaking. Then, as the mouse lay there trembling, he lifted his paw and allowed his tiny prisoner to go free. Hardly believing his good fortune, the mouse scampered away with hardly a backward look, fleeing as fast as he could out of the forest.
Now as it happened that not long afterwards, the lion was once again hunting in the woods and by mischance fell into a trap set by some hunters. He struggled desperately to escape the net entangling him but to no avail. Angry and with no hope of freedom, he set up a mighty roar that filled the forest with its echo.
Far away the mouse heard the roar and ran quickly to discover its source. At last, in a small clearing, he found the captive lion, which he recognized as the same one who had spared his life and set him free. Without more ado, and showing no fear at all, the mouse ran out and began to nibble at the cords that tightly bound the lion. In a short while the mouse's sharp teeth severed the net and the noble beast was released from his captivity.
Kindness given, to great or humble, is seldom wasted
Aesop
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