Once upon a time there was a great lion who was the king of the animals. One day the lion was sleeping under a tree in the shade when a little mouse ran over his head. It tickled the lion’s whiskers and woke him up. The lion was angry.
“Who dares to wake the king of beasts?” he shouted angrily and grabbed the little mouse.
He was about to crush the mouse in his paws when the little mouse cried out: “Wait, great king, spare me. My death will bring you nothing. If you spare me and let me go, I can repay you somehow.”
The lion laughed. What could a little mouse like that do for him? She could barely reach his ankles. But because the mouse made him laugh so hard, it made him feel better. So he decided to let the mouse go.
“Go on, you little creature, before I change my mind,” said the lion, still giggling at the thought that this little mouse might be of some help to him.
A few days passed and hunters appeared in the jungle. They set traps and waited for an animal to get caught in one. Soon an animal was caught in the trap too. And not just any animal. The lion king himself was running through the jungle when a thick, strong net fell on him. The lion became entangled in it. He writhed and screamed and cried for help because he couldn’t get out of the net. But all the animals just watched from their hiding places. None had the courage to approach the huge lion, afraid it would eat them.
Until a mouse appeared. It slithered through the grass to the lion.
“Great King, here I am,” she whistled in his ear.
“You? You can’t help me. You’re small and weak. The hunters will be here soon. What can you do?” said the lion, sad and exhausted.
But the mouse pounced on the net and began to chew the ropes of which the net was made. In a little while she bit a hole in the net through which the lion could escape.
Since then, the lion and the mouse have been friends. The Lion King learned that he should never underestimate the small and weak, because they too can sometimes help the big and strong.
