One very hot afternoon, a lion was dozing in a cool, dark cave. He was just about to fall asleep when a mouse scuttled across his nose. With an angry roar, the lion raised his paw and knocked the mouse to the ground. "How dare you wake me up," he snarled. "I'll crush you into the ground."
"O, please, please spare me," squeaked the terrified mouse. "I promise to help you one day if only you'll let me go."
"That's a joke," said the lion. "How could a puny little mouse like you help a big strong lion like me?" And he began to laugh. He laughed so much that he lifted his paw... and the mouse escaped.
A few days later the lion was out hunting in the jungle. He was just thinking about his next meal when he tripped over a roped pulled tight across the path. A huge net fell on top of him and, strong as he was, he just could not struggle free. And as he twisted and turned and wriggled and writhed, the net got tighter and tighter.
The lion began to roar so loudly that even the animals outside the jungle could hear him. One of these animals was the little mouse, who was nibbling at a grain of corn. He immediately dropped the corn and ran to the lion. "O, mighty lion," he squeaked. "If only you'll keep still I can help you escape."
By now the lion felt so tired that all he could do was lie back and watch as the mouse gnawed through the ropes of the net. He could hardly believe it when some time later he realised he was free.
"You've saved my life, little mouse," he said. "I'll never laugh at the promises made by tiny friends again."
Story Time � 1984-1989 by Rubicon Press CC