THE LION AND THE MOUSE


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 right 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 a generous lion, and finally let the mouse go. Some days later, while stalking his prey in the forest, the lion was caught in a hunter’s net. Unable to free himself, he filled the forest with his angry roaring. 

The mouse knew his voice, and quickly came and found the lion struggling in the net. Running to one of the great ropes that bound the lion, 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.”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

THE LEGEND OF LUANDA MAGERE

Image
LONG ago in the Luo community there lived a mighty warrior known as Luanda Magere. He belonged to the Sidho clan in Kano, and he was believed to have once walked the shores of Lake Victoria. The Sidho clan occupies the present sugar belt at the foot of the Nandi escarpment. He was possessed of unearthly powers, and his flesh was made of stone. Arrows, spears and clubs simply deflected from his body, making him invincible during warfare. He was famously known for his capability to tear an entire army apart. The Luo traditional enemies at the time were the Nandi. The Nandi’s like fighting at night but Luanda Magere with his group liked daytime. The Nandi’s were very good fighters at night compared to daytime. While people were fighting, Luanda Magere was to be seen at home smoking tobacco. But when his people were under Nandi threat, he could be seen asking for his spear and shield. When he went to the battlefield he could kill so many Nandi’s all at ago and eventually forcing t...
Read more

THE ORIGIN OF DEATH: AGIKUYU MYTH

Image
  Now there was a time when men rose again as soon as they died. One day Ngai sent the chameleon to tell people that they would never die. Ngai wanted people to multiply on the land. He said: 'Go. Tell the people that from now one they will not die. They will bear more children and the land will be populated.' The Chameleon went on his errand but he walked very very slowly, treading very softly. He did not want the vault of the earth to collapse. Now when he reached the earth, he found that the people were waiting to hear the message he had brought. And the chameleon started to deliver his message in this manner: 'I wa-was-was to-told, I wa-wa-was to to-told...' And the people waited to hear what the Chameleon wanted to say.    Now as the people were waiting for the message, Ngai sent the swift flying Nyamindigi. The latter came and found that the Chameleon had not finished his message and the bird said: 'What is this you are telling the people?' 'I was-was-...
Read more

CREATION STORY: AGIKUYU MYTH

Image
  The power that wields the instruments of life and death was mostly associated with Ngai (God) who lived at Kirinyaga (Mount Kenya)... Through him the Kikuyu justify their existence:    "In the beginning Ngai, who is the God and the divider or the universe, called Gikuyu the father of the tribe. Ngai gave Gikuyu a share of his land with rivers, valleys, forests rich with fruits and animals of all types. Then Ngai went to stay on Kirinyaga.    Now Ngai used to go round inspecting and admiring the beautiful earth.    'One day He took Gikuyu on top of Kirinyaga. It was on the highest point of the mountain. He showed Gikuyu a spot in the centre of the country where there were many  mugumo  (wild fig) trees. Gikuyu saw that the land was very beautiful. And Ngai said to Gikuyu, 'Go. Build your homestead on that spot with mugumo trees,' and he called the selected place where the mugumo trees grew Mukurwe wa Gathanga.   ...
Read more