fables folktales · Ages 6-8

The Mouse Who Remembered a Laughing Lion

A lion spares a tiny mouse, and later the mouse repays him by chewing through the hunter's net.

The whole story

1. At sunrise, a tiny mouse hurried along the forest path with a berry in his acorn satchel. Beside a mossy stone, a lion opened one amber eye.

2. The mouse tripped over a twig and landed on the lion's paw. The lion lifted his head, and the mouse froze.

3. “Please let me go,” squeaked the mouse. The lion laughed so warmly that the leaves trembled. “Go on, little one,” he said.

4. The mouse scampered away. He carried the lion's laughing sound in his ears, and he carried his kindness in his heart.

5. Days later, the mouse heard a deep roar from the clearing. The lion had stepped into a hunter's net.

6. The mouse remembered the lion's laughing voice. He set down his berry and began to chew.

7. The rope was thick, but the mouse's teeth were sharp. Strand by strand, the opening grew wider.

8. At last, the net fell open. The lion stepped out and bowed his great head. “You remembered me,” he said.

9. The mouse picked up his berry. Then he and the lion walked home together, laughing all the way.

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