Light, Glorious Light

The Mouse and The Lion

The Lore Keepers tell the story of The Lion and The Mouse as a cautionary tale to young precocious teenagers eager to explore the waste. As with all parables they begin with a song to The Great Mother, one of temperance and discernment. A paw of a hunting cat is donned on one hand, a small mouse toy placed on the ground. A string is pulled, the mouse chases its tail, the Lore Keeper begins:

A mighty lioness awoke one morning to the feeling of tiny feet upon her fur. She yawned and, without opening her eyes, sang to The Great Mother.

"What disturbs me, Mother?"

She lashed out with her mighty paw, and caught beneath her claws a tiny mouse. The little creature attempted to escape, but try as she might, The Queen of The Jungle was inescapable.

"Has The Great Mother sent me breakfast?"

"Please spare me, mighty queen," the mouse beseeched. "I am small, and will be little more than a snack."

"Who am I to ignore a gift sent me by the goddess?"

"Who are you to deny the plea of someone weaker than you?"

"I am queen, that's who I am!" roared the lioness.

"Well, mighty queen, as one of your smallest and most humble servants might you grant me this boon. Release me and I promise I will repay you one hundredfold when it is in my power to do so."

The lioness found the idea comical. A tiny mouse owing a favor to The Queen of The Jungle. Thus tickled, the lioness released the mouse who promptly scurried away.

Their paths would not cross again for years, but when they did it was the lioness who was in trouble. A brush fire ate away at the queen's jungle, as brush fires are prone to do. The other animals had fled but the lioness stayed behind. Some thought it was out of pride or arrogance, but the truth was she was hurt. The other animals avoided her as she wept, but not the tiny mouse who owed her a favor.

"Oh, mighty queen, why do you not flee the approaching flames? They appear hungry." asked the mouse.

"I cannot flee."

"Don't be silly, mighty one. No one will judge you if you flee, for fire is paramount among The Great Mother's instruments."

"It is not pride that holds me but a pain in my paw."

The lioness raised the offending paw and slumped down upon the ground. The tiny mouse jumped up and down, clapping her hands in excitement.

"Mighty queen, I have found what ails you and a means for me to repay the kindness you've once shown me."

"Do you mock me, tiny mouse? I should devour you where you stand."

"No, mighty queen, remember that you spared my life once before. Let me prove the truth of my words."

The mouse crawled gingerly beneath the lioness's paw and, with a tug, she yanked free a rather wicked thorn that had buried itself between the lion's pads. The mighty queen yelped and swatted the tiny mouse. She stood and released a magnificent roar. The fire hesitated in its tireless march, and The Queen of The Jungle was herself once again. She could stand on that offending paw once more and she could evade the fire's path.

The lioness looked around for the tiny mouse, and found her under a bush, bleeding from a terrible gash. In her carelessness the queen had inflicted terrible wounds upon her tiny savior. The lioness scooped up the mouse in that same offending paw.

"Thank you, my tiny friend. You've saved me."

"It was merely your just due, mighty queen. But now I fear I'm in no condition to escape this burning wood."

"You may be right, tiny one. What that I could do something for you."

"There is something you can do, mighty one," the mouse said. "Take me with you as you flee this place."

The lioness saw the rightness in the mouse's request and ate her.

The Lore Keepers of the north believe the moral of the story is to beware of women who live by the claw. The Lore Keepers of the south believe the moral of the story is that affirmations may last for a season, but one's true nature is eternal.