The lion
& the mouse

THE LION & THE MOUSE

“A Lion, tired with the chase, lay sleeping at full length under a shady tree. Some Mice, scrambling over him while he slept, awoke him. Laying his paw upon one of them, he was about to crush him, when the Mouse implored his mercy. ‘Spare me, O King!’ said he, ‘and maybe the day will come when I can be of service to you.’ The Lion, tickled with the idea of the Mouse helping him, lifted his paw and let the little creature go. Some time after that, the Lion was caught in a net laid by some hunters, and, unable to free himself, made the forest resound with his roars. The Mouse whose life had been spared came, and with his little sharp teeth soon gnawed the ropes asunder, and set the Lion free.” (47)

The least may help the greatest.

From AESOP’S ILLUSTRATED FABLES.
Original illustrations by Walter Crane, Ernest Griset, and Arthur Rackham.