The Lion and The Mouse

One hot summer day, the king of the jungle was resting in the shade when his nap was interrupted by a little mouse.

The lion woke up and angrily pounced on the mouse with one paw. “How dare you disturb my sleep!” he roared.

The mouse trembled with fear. “Mighty lion, I am so sorry for disturbing you. Please, I beg of you not to eat me.Think for a minute. I am too small to make you a good meal, but certainly not too small to be able to help you one day.”

The thought of the tiny little mouse helping him, the king of the jungle, was so absurd that it tickled him pink. The idea made him roll over with laughter.

“You made me laugh, little one. A creature as tiny as you could never be of any use to me, but I admire your spunk. For that, I will spare your life. Now, scram before I change my mind.”

The mouse scurried out of there faster than you could say scat.

 

That afternoon, the lion was strolling through the jungle as usual. He was in a very good mood. He did not notice the trap that some poachers had set for him. Before he knew it, he had stepped into it and was strung up a tree. Poor lion. The harder he struggled, the tighter the ropes got. He roared and roared, but the ropes held fast. Just when he had given up hope, he heard a sound. When he turned around, he was surprised to see the little mouse whose life he had spared earlier. The little mouse started gnawing on the ropes of the trap as quickly as it could. In no time, he had gnawed enough to set the lion free. The lion quickly crawled out of there.

c/o of nytimes.com

So it came to pass that the powerful king of the jungle owed his life to a seemingly powerless little mouse. In gratitude, the lion gave the mouse full bragging rights as well as a view of the entire kingdom as it sat on the lion’s head on their daily strolls. From that time on, the two became inseparable, having learned some pretty valuable lessons. The lion realized that you can never be too mighty not to need help, and the mouse proved that even the lowly can be of use to somebody.

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