The Lion and the Mouse

The Lion and the Mouse is one of Aesop's Fables, numbered 150 in the Perry Index, with Eastern variants that demonstrate mutual dependence regardless of size or status. In the oldest versions, a lion spares a mouse that wakes it, and later the mouse frees the lion from a hunter's net. The moral is that mercy brings reward and no being is too small to help a greater.

In the Renaissance, the fable was provided with a sequel condemning social ambition. The Scottish poet Robert Henryson expanded it in the 1480s, introducing themes of law and justice. Clément Marot in 1534 adapted it as a plea for release from prison, while La Fontaine and Ivan Krylov offered their own versions, with Krylov's highlighting the lion's prideful downfall.

Artistic interpretations abound: Flemish painters Rubens and Snyders, French artist Vincent Chevilliard, and Gustav Klimt all depicted the scene. Sculptors like Robert "Mouseman" Thompson carved it in church furniture, and Marshall Fredericks created a child-friendly statue for Eastland Center in Michigan, with a gold-plated mouse that was repeatedly stolen. Tom Otterness also sculpted the fable for the Beelden aan Zee museum in the Netherlands.

Attendees can expect a performance that explores this timeless story through narrative and visual art, celebrating the theme of mutual aid across cultures and centuries.