One day a lion awoke from a long sleep. Earlier that day, he had been out hunting, and had become very tired. Now he felt great after his long rest. The lion was stretching himself when he felt something moving on one of his paws. When he looked down he saw a tiny mouse. The lion was very upset that this little creature should come into his private space to annoy him. He was about to squash the mouse when the mouse said, “No‐one will praise you for killing a little creature like me; I'm nothing.”

After a pause, the lion set the mouse free.

One day, the lion was caught by some hunters. They tied him up and went hunting for other animals. The lion roared for help but no‐one came to his rescue. He was about to give up when he felt something tugging at the rope that was used to tie him. He looked down and saw the same little mouse whose life he had spared, gnawing at the rope. Soon he was free. He thanked the mouse with all his heart and ran back to his home in the forest.

“Thank you too”, whispered the mouse to himself.

The two became friends forever.

1. Which are the two animals in this story?
2. Why was the lion sleeping for a long time?
3. Why did the lion set the mouse free?
4. Why did the lion pause before harming the mouse?
5. Where were the hunters when the mouse came to help the lion?
6. What caused the two animals to become friends?
7. Spell the word which sounds like ‘pause’ in the story but has a different meaning
8. Spell two other words from the passage which sound alike but have different meanings.
9. Give three words from the passage, that begin with the ‘h’ sound.
10. What lesson did you learn from this story?