Theme: Humility / Action and Reaction / Gratitude / Aid

The Lion and the Mouse

The Lion, King of the Animals, was walking calmly in his kingdom, the kingdom of the jungles. All the animals knew him and respected him. Wherever he passed, he was noticed. Some stopped what they were doing to greet him or to admire him. The Lion was majestic, strong, big, agile and yet handsome.

Every now and then, he let out an impressive roar, seemed to want to remind everyone how powerful he was.

In that warm afternoon, the Lion walked slowly. The heat rose his enervation and the sleep that he used to feel after lunch. He walked and looked for the ideal place to lie down, where the shadow and silence could pack the good sleep he intended to take. The trees in the woods seemed perfect, and he went toward them.

However, on the way there, the Lion began to hear something different. It was a thin, faint voice, barely audible.

Little by little, with the big steps of the Lion, the voice grew closer and he could listen to it better:

- Help, somebody help me! For the love of God! Somebody help me!

The Lion, then, without difficulty, discovered what was happening.

It was just a little mouse in a hole. He must have fallen and could not get out.

The Lion looked at the situation for a few seconds. With no disposition to delay his desired rest, mostly because of a tiny, practically despicable mouse, he turned his body toward the trees and walked again.

The little mouse, however, seeing that the Lion was moving away, cried out in pain:

- Save me, King Lion, for God's sake, save me!

The Lion almost flinched at the pleas of the mouse but to calm his conscience he said to himself:

- The hole is not so deep. He must try harder. He is a mouse, must also be lazy.

He wanted to convince himself that he didn’t have to do anything. But he seemed to hear a voice saying:

- How cruel! For you it costs nothing. Your help may be the only chance he has.

And that voice kept arguing, every step he took, moving away.

The Lion, sleepy, wanted very soon to go sleeping, but he felt he should save the little mouse. Contradicted, he argued to himself:

- The mouse was hapless. He should have looked where he went. It is not my problem.

But he could not convince his conscience and finally decided:

- It’s better to get that mouse out of there! Otherwise, he will disturb my sleep, thinking of him, dying of hunger and thirst, while I rest quietly.

Therefore, willing to settle the matter soon, he turned back a few steps, snarled half-annoyed, and thrust his huge paw into the hole. He took the mouse out of there in a second.

The little animal, relieved, thanked the Lion. He repeated words of gratitude and fidelity a thousand times. He asked God to bless him and talked so much that the Lion did not want to hear it anymore.

He told the little mouse to be careful ahead and turned back on his way to the cool shadows of the trees.

- Good - thought the Lion - I'm going to lie down in a very soft grass. I want the biggest shadow of the biggest tree!

And, looking for the ideal place, he walked under the trees, on some dry leaves. Suddenly... without understanding what it was happening, he felt a very fast movement, a different noise and a force that surrounded everything. In a second, he was lift from the ground, trapped in a net, bound by a rope to that great tree.

He felt a great shock and then anger. He was furious with the audacity of the men. That trap could not defeat him. He fought, forced, tried to break free. He struggled as much as he could, but nothing happened. Hours passed. The Lion, already exhausted, was still trying to save himself.

The man is a smart animal. Their traps are very dangerous. The lion's anger began to give way to fear. What would happen when the men arrived? Would he be killed? Or taken from his kingdom to live in a cage?

Desperate, he let out a giant roar. Probably the whole kingdom heard. Then other and another.

It caught the attention. Some small animals arrived soon. They saw the lion trapped and ran to spread the news. Soon, the bigger animals arrived and friends tried to find a way to help it.

But the situation was difficult. No one knew how to disarm the network. Anguish began to take over. They could never imagine seeing the Lion King in that sad condition.

Other animals were coming and crowding on the spot. The mouse came too. It took a while to get there because he was small but he came as fast as he could as soon as he heard the news.

The little mouse went through the big animals, managing to get close and see the whole scene. He quickly assessed the situation and immediately began to act. He climbed the tree trunk, down the rope, and reached the net. Only then he was noticed by the other animals, which wondered what he was doing there.

The mouse was small but had sharp teeth, made to gnaw. He was very fast and surprised everyone when he chewed the first rope of the net and it broke apart. He continued to gnaw until it opened a very large hole through which the Lion managed to get out, standing victoriously in the middle of the animals.

It was an explosion of joy. There were squeals, howls, grunts, bleating, and roars, all in the same celebration. The lion was relieved, looked at the little mouse which smiled happily at him. It was his time to thank. There were emotions in their hearts that other animals could not imagine. Only the two of them knew the great lessons life had brought them on that unforgettable day. (*)

(*) Free adaptation of a fable of La Fontaine.

Translation: 

Larissa Martine - larissa_am@hotmail.com

marcelapradacontato@gmail.com