狮子和老鼠
A lion was sleeping in the forest when a little mouse ran across his face by mistake. The lion woke up with a roar and trapped the mouse under his huge paw.
"Please don't eat me!" squeaked the mouse. "Let me go, and one day I'll repay you."
The lion laughed. "How could a tiny thing like you ever help a lion like me?" But he was amused, and he wasn't very hungry, so he lifted his paw and let the mouse go.
Some time later, the lion was out hunting when he walked straight into a hunters' trap. A thick rope net fell over him. He roared and struggled, but the more he pulled, the tighter the net became.
The mouse heard the roaring and recognised the lion's voice. She ran to him at once and began to gnaw through the ropes with her sharp little teeth. One by one, the ropes snapped, until there was a hole big enough for the lion to crawl out.
"You laughed at me when I said I would help you," said the mouse. "Now you know that even a mouse can help a lion."
No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted.
一头狮子正在森林里睡觉，一只小老鼠不小心从它脸上跑了过去。狮子吼了一声醒过来，用巨大的爪子一把按住了老鼠。
“求求你别吃我！”老鼠吱吱地叫着，“放了我吧，总有一天我会报答你的。”
狮子笑了：“你这么个小不点儿，怎么可能帮得了我这样的狮子？”不过，它觉得挺好笑，肚子也不怎么饿，就抬起爪子，把老鼠放了。
过了一段时间，狮子出去打猎，一不小心闯进了猎人设下的陷阱。一张粗绳编成的大网从天而降，把它罩住了。它又吼又挣扎，可是越用力，网就收得越紧。
老鼠听见了吼声，认出那是狮子的声音。它立刻跑过来，用尖尖的小牙齿啃起绳子来。绳子一根接一根地断了，最后网上出现了一个大洞，狮子终于从里面爬了出来。
“我说要帮你的时候，你还笑我，”老鼠说，“现在你知道了吧，就连老鼠也能帮上狮子的忙。”
善意再小，也不会白费。