The Lion and the Mouse

The Lion and the Mouse
A lion asleep in his lair was woken by a mouse running over his face. Losing his temper he seized it with his paw and was about to kill it. The mouse, terrified, piteously entreated him to spare its life. "Please let me go," it cried, "and one day I will repay you for your kindness." The idea of so insignificant a creature ever being able to do anything for him amused the lion so much that he laughed aloud, and good-humouredly let it go. But the mouse's chance came, after all. One day the lion got entangled in a hunter’s net, and the mouse heard and recognised his roars of anger and ran to the spot. Without more ado it set to work to gnaw the ropes with its teeth, and succeeded before long in setting the lion free. "There!" said the mouse, "you laughed at me when I promised I would repay you: but now you see, even a mouse can help a lion.

~ No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.

Paper: A2 (420 × 594 mm) Fabriano Accademia 120 gsm
Image size: 230 × 350 mm

Hand-pulled linocut, hand-burnished, no press.
Printed with Caligo oil-based ink.
Original print, not a reproduction.
Slight variation in ink and finish is part of the process, not a flaw.
Edition of 30, numbered and signed.
Unframed, shipped in a protective tube.