A lion spares a mouse and later needs help himself. This listening guide follows that change in power. Focus on what each animal can do at a different moment.
This recording contains one fable and its Application commentary. It is not the full collection. The 1818 edition uses older English. Read the linked text when a word is unclear.
Audio and source text
Reader: Fadi Qutub. Recording length: 3:05.
Read this fable in the 1818 source edition
Listen with a purpose
Listen once without the text. Read the source text. Listen again and complete the task. Use the player controls to pause or repeat.
Draw two boxes: the lion in control, and the lion in a trap. Add the mouse’s action to each box. Listen again for the words that move the story from one situation to the other.
Useful vocabulary for this topic
- mercy
- kindness shown when someone has power to punish
- toils
- an older word for the hunters’ nets in this story
- gnaw
- to bite something many times until it breaks
Check your understanding
What does the lion do after the mouse asks for mercy?
Show the answer
He releases the mouse.
Why can the lion not free himself later?
Show the answer
He is caught in the hunters’ nets.
How does the mouse help?
Show the answer
It bites through the knots and fastenings of the nets.
Think about the story
The mouse does not need the lion’s strength to solve this problem. Its small teeth provide a different ability. Describe this contrast before deciding how widely you would apply the fable’s message.
Your writing task
Write two sentences about the first encounter and two about the rescue. Use one action in each sentence.
Check your work: answer from the recording, support your interpretation, and keep guesses separate from facts.
Source and recording
Fable: Aesop; English edition: Fables of Aesop and Others, with Thomas Bewick’s designs (1818).
Reader: Fadi Qutub. Recording: LibriVox.
LibriVox releases its recordings into the public domain, including for commercial reuse. Its published copyright statement explains the territorial scope.
LibriVox public-domain statement
The guide and exercises are original BookAud material. The source recording has not been changed.