Storybook

A great Lion was sleeping in the shade of a baobab tree when a tiny Mouse, hurrying home with a seed in her cheeks, scampered right across his nose.

The Lion woke with a roar and clapped his enormous paw on her tail. "Now I shall eat you for waking me up," he growled.

The Mouse trembled and squeaked. "Oh please, mighty Lion, do not eat me! I am only a little thing, and I would hardly fill a corner of your stomach. Spare me, and one day, perhaps, I shall help you."

The Lion lifted his paw. He laughed so loudly the leaves shook above him. "You? Help me? What a small, foolish creature you are. Go on. The thought of it has cheered me up."

The Mouse bowed and ran for her hole, and was gone before he could change his mind.

Many days passed. The Lion went hunting in the deep forest one morning and did not see the heavy net the hunters had spread between the trees. The ropes closed around him. He roared and twisted, but the more he struggled, the tighter the net grew. At last he lay still, panting, and his roars filled the whole forest.

Far away, the little Mouse heard. She remembered the great paw lifting from her tail, and she ran toward the sound.

When she reached the Lion she found him bound from mane to tail. She did not stop to be afraid. She climbed onto a rope and began to gnaw, her sharp teeth working steadily. She gnawed through one rope, then another, then a third. Hour after hour she worked, until at last the net fell open and the Lion was free.

He stood up and shook the dust from his coat. He looked down at the small creature at his feet, and his eyes were soft.

"Little Mouse," he said, "I laughed at you. I was wrong. I see now that even a small friend can save a great king."

The Mouse smiled, and they walked together to the edge of the forest as the sun rose.

A kindness is never wasted, however small it seems.