THE
LION and THE MOUSE
The lion is the king of the
bush. He fears nothing. Everting in the bush fears him and keeps away from him.
Only flies will venture to touch his body.
One
day the lion was sleep, the lion dreamed that something was playing on his
side. He opened his eyes slowly and saw the mouse. In an instant be had the
mouse under one claw and the poor mouse was crying. The mouse said “ Great one, will you not let me go? You know I may be able to do something for you some
day.’’ The lion laughed and laughed
and then said, “ A litte thing like
you, What could you do for me?” But
the lion let the mouse go. The trembling mouse hurried away to hide himself in
a hole in the ground.
The lion started off to hunt
meat. He had not gone far when he suddenly realized that he was fast in a trap.
At first the lion felt sure that he would be able to free himself, but the
harder he pulled the tighter he was held. The rope was very strong and he could
not break it. The lion began to cry, because he knew that when the. Owner of
the trap came only death was left. That is what caused the lion to cry loud and
long.
The mouse heard the lion crying
and decided to find out what could be wrong. Whe the mouse arrived he found
that the lion was held tight by a great strong rope. The mouse said to the
lion, “ Do you want me to let you
loose? ’’ The lion said, “ Yes, yes, if yoy can.’’ The mouse began to gnaw at the rope.
He gnawed it in two and the lion was set free.
The lion never imagined that a little mouse
could do anything for anyone. He was amazed that the little mouse could save
him from death. The lion said, “ Had
it not been for you, I would have met death at the hands of the hands of the
owner of the trap”.
