The Story
Deep in the heart of the African savanna, on a wide flat rock warmed by the midday sun, a great lion was sleeping. His mane spread around him like a golden crown, and his chest rose and fell with slow, powerful breaths. All the animals of the plain gave that rock a wide berth. Even the hyenas slunk past at a distance.
But a small mouse, scurrying through the grass on urgent business of her own, was not watching where she was going. She ran straight across the flat rock, over a great paw, and directly onto the lion's nose.
The lion's eyes snapped open. One enormous paw came down, gentle but inescapable, pinning the mouse to the stone.
The mouse froze, trembling, her heart hammering against her tiny ribs. She looked up into eyes as large as her entire body.
"Forgive me, great lion," she squeaked. "I did not see you. Please let me go. I know I am too small and foolish to be worth eating — but if you spare me, I swear that one day I will repay you."
The lion stared down at the ridiculous little creature. A mouse repay a lion. He found the idea so absurd that a deep rumble began in his chest, which rolled out into a full, magnificent roar of laughter that sent birds flying from the trees half a mile away.
"Repay me," he repeated, still chuckling. He lifted his paw. "Go, little thing. The very idea is too funny to resist."
The mouse fled like the wind and did not stop running for a long time.
Several weeks later, the lion was moving through the forest when he stepped into a rope net set by hunters. It closed around him before he could react, and the more he fought it the tighter it held. He roared with fury and then with desperation, but the ropes were thick and well-knotted and there was nothing his great strength could do.
He had been roaring for some time, growing hoarse, when a small voice came from the grass nearby.
"Be still, great lion. I will help you."
He looked down, and there was the mouse. She set to work at once, her small sharp teeth gnawing at the ropes, strand by strand. The lion held perfectly still, and the mouse worked steadily, and one by one the ropes gave way.
When the last strand parted, the lion stepped free. He was quiet for a moment, breathing in the open air.
"You laughed," said the mouse gently.
"I did," said the lion. "I was wrong to laugh."
He lowered his great head so that his nose nearly touched her, and looked at her properly for the first time. "Thank you," he said.
"Little friends may prove great friends," said the mouse, and scurried away into the grass.
And the lion, king of the savanna, walked on in thoughtful silence, and never again made the mistake of judging by size.