A mouse happened to run into the mouth of a sleeping lion, who roused
himself, caught him, and was just about eating him, when the little
fellow begged him to let him go, saying, "If I am saved, I shall be
everlastingly grateful." So, with a smile, the lion let him off. It
befell him not long after to be saved by the mouse's gratitude, for
when he was caught by some hunters and bound by ropes to a tree, the
mouse, hearing his roaring groans, came and gnawed the ropes, and set
him free, saying, "You laughed at me once, as if you could receive no
return from me, but now, you see, it is you who have to be grateful to
me."
The story shows that there come sudden changes of affairs, when the
most powerful owe everything to the weakest.
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