THE LION AND THE MOUSE

I would like to tell you a story, title The Lion and the Mouse
One hot afternoon, the lion was asleep in its den. He slept so deeply that he
didn't even feel two little mice running up and down his back, chasing each
other. They chased each other along the lion's tail, down his legs, between his
paws and in and out of his ears. When they could run no longer, they sat on the
tip of his nose to get their breath back.
"That was fun," said one, twitching his whiskers.
"Let's do it again," said the other, flicking his tail.
The twitching and the flicking woke up the lion. He swiped at his nose with his
paw. One little mouse dodged the blow and ran off. However, the other wasn't
quick enough and was knocked to the ground. The lion stared angrily at the
mouse. The lion opened his mouth to swallow it. The little mouse felt the lion's hot
breath on his face.
"Please don't eat me," he squeaked.
Surprised, the lion stopped what he was doing. "I'm hungry," he said.
"I'm so small, you won't even taste me," whispered the mouse.
"That's true," said the lion. He would need a much bigger meal to fill his large,
rumbling belly. "I am the King of the Jungle. I'm not supposed to show any mercy."
"Dear King Lion," pleaded the mouse, "if you spare me, I promise you, one day,
when you are in trouble, I will help you in return.
The lion liked this idea. "Ok, I'll let you go, just this once," he chuckled.
"Thank you, friend," said the little mouse. "I won't forget your kindness."
Though the lion had laughed at the little mouse,
A few days later while the lion was walking through the jungle, he stepped onto a
trap. A net was hidden under a pile of leaves. The net closed around him and
strung him up between two trees as the lion fought to get out. He arched his
back and tore at the net with his claws and teeth, but the more he struggled, the
tighter the net became. The lion roared in fury.
Far away, the mouse heard the lion's roar. My new friend is in trouble!" he cried.
"I must keep my promise and help him." He ran all day and didn't stop until he
reached his friend.

The lion was bound so tightly, he could not move. "Please help me, Mouse," he
pleaded.
"Don't worry, King Lion," said the mouse. "Be patient and I will soon free you."
The mouse began to bite at the net that bound the lion. Soon, a hole in the net
slowly grew bigger and bigger until it was big enough for the lion to move. Finally
the net snapped and the lion broke lose and leave the place with the mouse.
The lion thanked the mouse over and over again. "You saved my life," said the
King of the Jungle, full of gratitude.
"Just as you once saved mine," replied the mouse.
Remember my friends, always remembered the importance of helping one
another. Never dismiss an offer of help, no matter how small it may seem.


There once was a shepherd boy who was bored as he sat on the hillside
watching the village sheep. To amuse himself he took a great breath and sang
out, "Wolf! Wolf! The Wolf is chasing the sheep!"
The villagers came running up the hill to help the boy drive the wolf away. But
when they arrived at the top of the hill, they found no wolf. The boy laughed at
the sight of their angry faces.
"Don't cry 'wolf', shepherd boy," said the villagers, "when there's no wolf!" They
went grumbling back down the hill.
Later, the boy sang out again, "Wolf! Wolf! The wolf is chasing the sheep!" To his
naughty delight, he watched the villagers run up the hill to help him drive the
wolf away.
When the villagers saw no wolf they sternly said, "Save your frightened song for
when there is really something wrong! Don't cry 'wolf' when there is NO wolf!"
But the boy just grinned and watched them go grumbling down the hill once
more.
Later, he saw a REAL wolf prowling about his flock. Alarmed, he leaped to his feet
and sang out as loudly as he could, "Wolf! Wolf!"
But the villagers thought he was trying to fool them again, and so they didn't
come.
At sunset, everyone wondered why the shepherd boy hadn't returned to the
village with their sheep. They went up the hill to find the boy. They found him
weeping.
"There really was a wolf here! The flock has scattered! I cried out, "Wolf!" Why
didn't you come?"
An old man tried to comfort the boy as they walked back to the village.
"We'll help you look for the lost sheep in the morning," he said, putting his arm
around the youth, "Nobody believes a liar...even when he is telling the truth!"

The dog and His bone.
A hound dog found a bone and held it tightly in his mouth. He growled and scowled at
anyone who attempted to take it away. Off into the woods he went to bury his prize.
When he came to a stream, he trotted over the footbridge and happened to glance into
the water. He saw his own reflection. Thinking it was another dog with a bigger bone,
he growled and scowled at it. The reflection growled and scowled back.
"I'll get THAT bone too," thought the greedy dog, and he snapped his sharp teeth at the
image in the water.
Alas, his own big bone fell with a splash, out of sight, the moment he opened his
mouth to bite!
The fox and the Crow
There once was a big black crow sitting high up in the trees. In his beak he had a nice,
round cheese.
Along came a fox, as clever as they come, "Mmmm," he thought. "I'd like to have a
bite of that cheese. It will be easy to get some...."
"Oh crow," called fox, "if your voice is half as beautiful as those fine feathers I see, it
would please my ears to hear you sing a little melody!"
Well, crow had never heard anyone say such a complimentary thing. So, he opened up
his beak and he began to squawk and sing.
Down fell the cheese into the waiting mouth of the fox below.
"Oh no!" squawked the crow, "you've stolen my dinner!"
"Not at all!" said the fox, licking his lips. "It was a fair enough trade! Vain crow, with
your head up in the trees! You got the compliments, and I got the cheese!"

The Monkey and the Crocodile
Once upon a time, a clever monkey lived in a tree that bore juicy, red rose
apples. He was very happy. One fine day, a crocodile swam up to that tree and
told the monkey that he had traveled a long distance and was in search of food
as he was very hungry. The kind monkey offered him a few rose apples. The
crocodile enjoyed them very much and asked the monkey whether he could
come again for some more fruit. The generous monkey happily agreed.
The crocodile returned the next day. And the next. And the next one after that.
Soon the two became very good friends. They discussed their lives, their
friends and family, like all friends do. The crocodile told the monkey that he had
a wife and that they lived on the other side of the river. So the kind monkey
offered him some extra rose apples to take home to his wife. The crocodiles
wife loved the rose apples and made her husband promise to get her some
every day.
Meanwhile, the friendship between the monkey and the crocodile deepened as
they spent more and more time together. The crocodiles wife started getting
jealous. She wanted to put an end to this friendship. So she pretended that she
could not believe that her husband could be friends with a monkey. Her
husband tried to convince her that he and the monkey shared a true friendship.
The crocodiles wife thought to herself that if the monkey lived on a diet of rose
monkeys, his flesh would be very sweet. So she asked the crocodile to invite
the monkey to their house.
The crocodile was not happy about this. He tried to make the excuse that it
would be difficult to get the monkey across the river. But his wife was
determined to eat the monkeys flesh. So she thought of a plan. One day, she
pretended to be very ill and told the crocodile that the doctor said that she
would only recover if she ate a monkeys heart. If her husband wanted to save
her life, he must bring her his friends heart.
The crocodile was aghast. He was in a dilemma. On the one hand, he loved his
friend. On the other, he could not possibly let his wife die. The crocodiles wife
threatened him saying that if he did not get her the monkeys heart, she would
surely die.
So the crocodile went to the rose apple tree and invited the monkey to come
home to meet his wife. He told the monkey that he could ride across the river
on the crocodiles back. The monkey happily agreed. As they reached the
middle of the river, the crocodile began to sink. The frightened monkey asked
him why he was doing that. The crocodile explained that he would have to kill
the monkey to save his wifes life. The clever monkey told him that he would
gladly give up his heart to save the life of the crocodiles wife, but he had left
his heart behind in the rose apple tree. He asked the crocodile to make haste
and turn back so that the monkey could go get his heart from the apple tree.
The silly crocodile quickly swam back to the rose apple tree. The monkey
scampered up the tree to safety. He told the crocodile to tell his wicked wife
that she had married the biggest fool in the world.
Moral: Dont underestimate yourself. There are bigger fools in this world.

The boy who cried wolf
A Shepherd Boy tended his masters Sheep near a dark forest not far from the
village. Soon he found life in the pasture very dull. All he could do to amuse
himself was to talk to his dog or play on his shepherds pipe.
One day as he sat watching the Sheep and the quiet forest, and thinking what
he would do should he see a Wolf, he thought of a plan to amuse himself.
His Master had told him to call for help should a Wolf attack the flock, and the
Villagers would drive it away. So now, though he had not seen anything that
even looked like a Wolf, he ran toward the village shouting at the top of his
voice, Wolf! Wolf!
As he expected, the Villagers who heard the cry dropped their work and ran in
great excitement to the pasture. But when they got there they found the Boy
doubled up with laughter at the trick he had played on them.
A few days later the Shepherd Boy again shouted, Wolf! Wolf! Again the
Villagers ran to help him, only to be laughed at again.
Then one evening as the sun was setting behind the forest and the shadows
were creeping out over the pasture, a Wolf really did spring from the
underbrush and fall upon the Sheep.
In terror the Boy ran toward the village shouting Wolf! Wolf! But though the
Villagers heard the cry, they did not run to help him as they had before. He
cannot fool us again, they said.
The Wolf killed a great many of the Boys sheep and then slipped away into the
forest.
Liars are not believed even when they speak the truth.

The Lion and the Mouse
A small mouse crept up to a sleeping lion. The mouse admired the lion's ears, his long
whiskers and his great mane.
"Since he's sleeping," thought the mouse, "he'll never suspect I'm here!"
With that, the little mouse climbed up onto the lion's tail, ran across its back, slid down
its leg and jumped off of its paw. The lion awoke and quickly caught the mouse
between its claws.
"Please," said the mouse, "let me go and I'll come back and help you someday."
The lion laughed, "You are so small! How could ever help me?"
The lion laughed so hard he had to hold his belly! The mouse jumped to freedom and
ran until she was far, far away.
The next day, two hunters came to the jungle. They went to the lion's lair. They set a
huge rope snare. When the lion came home that night, he stepped into the trap.
He roared! He wept! But he couldn't pull himself free.
The mouse heard the lion's pitiful roar and came back to help him.
The mouse eyed the trap and noticed the one thick rope that held it together. She began
nibbling and nibbling until the rope broke. The lion was able to shake off the other
ropes that held him tight. He stood up free again!
The lion turned to the mouse and said, "Dear friend, I was foolish to ridicule you for
being small. You helped me by saving my life after all!"