A small mouse accidentally woke a lion. The lion held her gently in his paw. She asked him to let her go and promised to help him one day. The lion smiled at the idea, but he set her free. Some days later, he became tangled in a hunter's net. The mouse heard him roar. She hurried over and chewed through the ropes until he could step out. The lion thanked her. He now knew that being small did not mean being unable to help.
A First Stories tale
The Lion and the Mouse
Slide left for a simpler telling and right for more detail. Your choice carries to the next story.
Open this version in the audiobook shelfA mouse ran over a sleeping lion. The lion woke, but he let the mouse go. Later, the lion got caught in a net. The mouse heard his call and nibbled the ropes. Soon the lion was free. “Thank you, little friend,” he said. They learned that friends can help in different ways.
A small mouse accidentally woke a lion. The lion held her gently in his paw. She asked him to let her go and promised to help him one day. The lion smiled at the idea, but he set her free. Some days later, he became tangled in a hunter's net. The mouse heard him roar. She hurried over and chewed through the ropes until he could step out. The lion thanked her. He now knew that being small did not mean being unable to help.
A mouse scampered across a lion's paws while he slept. He woke and caught her. “Please let me go,” she said. “Perhaps I can help you someday.” The lion doubted that a tiny mouse could help him, but he was in a generous mood and released her.
Later, a hunter's net dropped over the lion. He pulled and twisted, but the ropes only tightened. His roar reached the mouse. She hurried to the clearing, found a knot near his paw, and began to chew. Bit by bit, the ropes loosened. At last the lion stepped free. He thanked the mouse and apologized for laughing at her promise. She had used a skill he did not have. From then on, the lion remembered that usefulness cannot be measured by size.
One warm afternoon, a mouse ran across a sleeping lion. He sprang awake and caught her under his paw. Frightened, she asked for mercy and said that if he freed her, she might be able to repay the kindness. The lion laughed. He could not imagine needing help from an animal so small. Still, he lifted his paw, and the mouse hurried away.
A few days later, the lion stepped into a hunter's net. Thick ropes closed around him. His strength made the knots tighter rather than looser. The mouse heard his calls and followed the sound. She could not lift the net, but her teeth could cut its cords. Working patiently, she made a hole large enough for the lion to escape.
The lion thanked her without laughing this time. He had needed precisely the ability he had overlooked. The mouse was glad to help, though she pointed out that she had never asked to be considered large or powerful. Kindness had given them a chance to discover what each could do.
The lion woke to find a mouse racing over his mane. In one swift movement he caught her. She asked him to let her go and offered a promise in return: if he ever needed help, she would come. The lion laughed at the idea of owing anything to a mouse. Nevertheless, he released her. It cost him little, and he soon forgot the encounter.
The mouse did not forget. When a lion's roar echoed through the trees days later, she recognized the voice and went to investigate. A hunter's net had trapped him. He could not push through the mesh, and struggling only pulled it tighter. The mouse examined the cords, chose a place near a knot, and began to gnaw. Her small teeth worked where the lion's claws could not. Eventually the net opened enough for him to step out.
The lion thanked her and admitted that he had mistaken size for ability. She had not rescued him by becoming strong in the way he was strong. She had helped by using her own skill. The lion's first kindness had also mattered: without it, there would have been no friendship to bring her back. Neither animal could solve every problem alone, but together they had managed this one.
Inspired by Aesop's Fables. This text is a new adaptation.