Aesops Fables:The Lion and the Mouse

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The Lion and the Mouse is a favorite Aesops Fable about kindness. It's hard to always be kind.

Sometimes you just don't feel like it! This fable reminds us that we better be nice even when it's hard or we don't feel like it because we may need some kindness too someday!

The Lion and the Mouse

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A Lion lay asleep in the forest, his great head resting on his paws.

A timid little Mouse came upon him unexpectedly, and in her fright and haste to get away, ran across the Lion's nose.

Roused from his nap, the Lion laid his huge paw angrily on the tiny creature to kill her.

"Spare me!" begged the poor Mouse. "Please let me go and some day I will surely repay you."

The Lion was much amused to think that a Mouse could ever help him. But he was generous and finally let the Mouse go.

Some days later, while stalking his prey in the forest, the Lion was caught in the toils of a hunter's net.

Unable to free himself, he filled the forest with his angry roaring. The Mouse knew the voice and quickly found the Lion struggling in the net.

Running to one of the great ropes that bound him, she gnawed it until it parted, and soon the Lion was free.

"You laughed when I said I would repay you," said the Mouse. "Now you see that even a Mouse can help a Lion."

The Moral Is: A kindness is never wasted.

What Did You Learn?

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This is our favorite famous fable! There's many famous sayings but you've probably heard of the Golden Rule -

"Treat others as you would like to be treated." This short short story illustrates that saying pretty well.

Fun Facts

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Lion

The female lion does almost all of the hunting but lets the male eat first - now that's showing some kindness!

When a lion and a tiger get married they have a baby called a "tiglon".

Mouse

A baby mouse is called a kitten - isn't that ironic!?

A daddy mouse is called a buck.

A mommy mouse is called a doe. Hmmm, I thought we were talking about mice, not deer?

If you grab a mouse by the tail you may loose it because the tip can come off!

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