Curiosity Fed The Cat

A slave named Androcles once escaped and fled to the forest. Once he arrived in the forest he heard loud roars and moans coming from behind a large tree. The slave, being meddlesome, decided to investigate the sounds. Upon coming around the tree he saw it was the Lion with his large auburn mane and long, sharp fangs showing with every roar and moan let out. As Androcles took his step to peek around the tree he met eyes with the Lion. With instincts kicking in, Androcles decided to run as fast as he could deeper into the forest smacking into leaves and branches with large bugs bashing him in the face every step of the way.

After a while Androcles decided to take a break because he was extremely tired and his feet were severely cut from the rugged forest floor. Upon stopping he looked around and noticed the lion was not chasing him at all. Thinking this was odd and being curious-natured, Androcles decided to go back and check on the lion. As he arrived back at the large tree Androcles peeked around the base and he noticed the lion had a large thorn in his paw. He walked up to the lion and went to remove the thorn. When he began to remove it he noticed the thorn had just been stuck between the claws of the lion and realized this was a trick! Androcles slowly looked up into the lion's ginormous head and noticed the look of smug satisfaction on the the beast's face. He knew he was in trouble.

Androcles began to run as fast as he could to try and get away from the lion and finally got into a cave where he found old rotten meat and bones scattered everywhere. He had run right into the lion’s den. The lion showed up moments later and began to chase Androcles around the cave until Androcles was cornered. The lion ripped the slave apart limb by limb starting with his head first and moving his way down until there was almost nothing left of Androcles. The lion spared his body no mercy as Androcles had made the lion work harder to catch him than he had wanted to. All that was left of the slave was a right foot with distinct markings.

When Androcle's master came looking for him, the same roars, moans, and groans were coming from around that large tree close to that cave. As his master went in the cave searching for Androcles he saw a foot and examined it closely. He recognized the markings and immediately knew that he had made a grave mistake. This was the cave of the ferocious lion! He heard a branch crackle behind him and when he turned his head to look he was met by the eyes of the lion with the blood of Androcles still fresh on his beard. The master tried to run but it was too late. The lion took the master out with one sweeping blow of his paw and prepared him for his late night snack.

Curiosity killed the cat. Or fed it.

Author's Note:

The story of Androcles and the lion is a tale of gratitude. Androcles, as slave, escaped his master and found himself in the forest when he came across an injured lion. The lion had a thorn in his paw which Androcles removed. The lion was so grateful that he took Androcles to his cave and fed him the meat, which he hunted, to survive. Eventually, both Androcles and the lion were captured by the slave’s master. Androcles was sent to be ravaged by the lion in an arena but to the surprise of the Emperor, the lion ran up to Androcles and licked his hands instead. The emperor was so surprised by this act that he released both Androcles and the Lion to be free.

I changed the story to make it more exciting and gruesome. I kept the same characters but changed the plot to make the lion evil and kill both the slave and the master. The original story had a happy ending but I did not think that was interesting enough for the reader. I did not think the master should survive either because he was a slave owner. I tried to make the story as descriptive as possible to give the reader a good image of how the lion tore apart Androcles and his master.

"Androcles and The Lion" by Joseph Jacobs, from Aesops Fables. Web Source: Un Textbook