The Lion and the Mouse
So, you might not think that the beauty parlor is the greatest
place for gossip in the jungle... BUT, maybe to your surprise, in the
jungle, it is the number one place to
hear about all of the latest gossip. Who would have thought there
would be a beauty parlor in the jungle?! I mean, every animal
needs a
trimming at least once a week! This leads to stories galore!
One fine day in the jungle, there were a few animals getting their hair trimmed. Little did they know, a great event was about to occur that they would soon hear all about! Of course, it had to do with the horrific lion and one of the poor, little, innocent mice of the jungle!
So, as the animals were being "serviced," the bear (who was all about the greatest and latest gossip) walked in and proclaimed that she had just witnessed the craziest thing! Everyone wanted to hear the story so the bear went on with the story of the lion and the mouse. Here's how it went, in the words of the bear:
"Okay everyone, so I was walking in the jungle today minding my own business trying to find something to munch on, and I saw the lion lying in a field of grass. Normally, I would think he would be harassing some of the animals, but this time he was just lying there and gazing into the sky."
"All of a sudden, one of the crazy, rambunctious little field mice ran over the lion. I don't really know how you could miss the huge lion lying in the middle of the grass, but I guess this mouse did... maybe they were playing tag, I don't really know. So the lion angrily and suddenly snatched the little mouse up with his paw. I can't even imagine how scared the mouse was! I always get terrified even talking to the lion!"
"Anyways, sorry - back to the story. The mouse started to beg for forgiveness from the lion, obviously! I could tell the mouse was about to lose it when the lion snatched him up! He went on to beg and plead for mercy for a good five or ten minutes while the merciless lion just stared at the mouse, holding him tight in his paw. I could see the sweat dripping off the mouse and the look of terror in his eyes. The lion finally decided that he would let the mouse go and not to punish him. I was absolutely amazed. I couldn't believe that the lion decided to free the little mouse. The lion went on to say that if he would have killed or eaten the mouse, or even punished the mouse in some small way, he would have been reprimanded by the other animals in the jungle... and, frankly, he didn't really care about the mouse enough to endure the criticisms that he knew would follow."
The animals in the beauty parlor were also amazed that the lion let the mouse go. They all started to chat about the incident. Was this the same lion they all knew and had come to despise from other actions that he had gone through? Maybe there is some good in everyone?
"But wait," said the bear. "I'm not even finished with the story! I'm only half way through it!" The animals were all still in quite a frenzy but kept listening to the bear:
"Okay, back to the story again. So, I was wandering around like an hour after all of this happened and ran across the lion again! This time, though, he was actually stuck in a huge hole that was somehow dug in the ground and he was wrapped up in all of these ropes and cords that he couldn't break loose from. I don't even know where the hole came from! The lion started to throw a huge fit and roar and plead for help from anyone who was around. Before I could even begin to think about helping him or what to do, here came the same little mouse running to help him! I guess he was really extremely grateful for the lion's mercy earlier today. The mouse then proceeded to start gnawing at the ropes... actually gnawing! After a while, the mouse finally chewed through the rope and the lion could break free from the mess that he somehow had gotten himself into! Wow! Can you all believe that the little mouse repaid the mercy of the lion earlier and even got him free?"
This caused an even bigger uproar from the animals in the beauty parlor! They all proclaimed that they had come to the conclusion that no matter how big or small one of the animals was, you should always be nice to them... you never know when you will be repaid!
Wow, the stories you'll hear in a beauty parlor! Gotta love 'em!
Author's Note: I really wanted to
keep the story and the underlying theme pretty much the same as the
original story since it is such a popular fable. I thought of the
beauty parlor idea immediately when I read this story, in particular,
because I thought it would be really great and humorous in a gossip
sort of way for the setting of the retelling. I decided to
introduce the character of the bear to retell the story and have all of
the dialogue in the story. I opted not to have any more narrators
or dialogue with other characters because I wanted to keep the story
very simple and very easy to follow along with. I feel like I
made the bear the character with all of the gossip and the kind of
"know it all" character at the same time. I tried to add in
little "tid bits" of what he was thinking while he was watching it so
the other animals could relate and also so the readers could relate and
actually feel like they were they watching the story unfold in front of
their eyes, as well. I also wanted to keep the moral and
underlying message of the story the same.
Bibliography: Aesop's Fables. A new translation by Laura Gibbs. Oxford University Press (World's Classics): Oxford, 2002. Websource: Aesopica
Image information:
Illustration of the Lion and the Mouse. Websource: Earthlink
Next
story: The Lion, The Hare and The Deer...
Bibliography: Aesop's Fables. A new translation by Laura Gibbs. Oxford University Press (World's Classics): Oxford, 2002. Websource: Aesopica
Image information:
Illustration of the Lion and the Mouse. Websource: Earthlink