Fable: The Lion and the Mouse

The lion was sleeping. A mouse ran across his body. He woke up and caught her. The mouse began to beg him to let her go; she said: "If you let me go, I will do you a good turn." The lion laughed that the mouse promised to do him a good turn, and let her go. Later, hunters caught the lion and tied him with a rope to a tree. The mouse heard the lion's roar, ran over, gnawed through the rope and said: "Remember, you laughed and didn't think I could ever do you a good turn, but now you see—even a mouse can do a good turn."