Androcles and the Lion

Androcles fled from his cruel master and hid in a cave deep in the forest, where he heard the painful roars of a lion with a badly swollen paw.

He calmly crept closer and found a large, sharp thorn deeply lodged in the lion's paw. Carefully, he pulled the thorn out.

The lion's pain vanished instantly. It licked Androcles's hand gratefully, and the two became friends, living together in the forest for a while.

Later, Androcles was captured by soldiers and thrown into an arena to fight a fierce lion before a huge crowd. Everyone believed he was doomed.

When the lion leaped out, it didn't attack — instead it walked up and gently licked his hand, for it was the very same lion who remembered his kindness. The astonished crowd set Androcles free.

The kindness we plant may return to save us on a day we least expect.