The Listening Grove · Fifty Famous Stories Retold
Chapter 27: Androclus and the Lion
A Charlotte Mason read-aloud lesson. Press play, with the lesson.
What is Fifty Famous Stories Retold Chapter 27, Androclus and the Lion, about?Parent review
Fifty Famous Stories Retold Chapter 27, Androclus and the Lion, is a beloved old tale of kindness returned. Androclus, a slave who had run away from a cruel master, hid in a cave, where he found a lion in pain. Gently he drew a large thorn from the lion's paw, and the grateful animal fed him and became his friend. Later Androclus was captured and, by the law of that day, condemned to face a hungry lion before a great crowd. The lion set loose was his old friend, who fawned upon him instead of harming him. Amazed, the people set both the slave and the lion free. It is a story about mercy repaid.
Say what you remember!
Tell what you remember from the last chapter.
What happened in Fifty Famous Stories Retold Chapter 26, Cornelia's Jewels?Have a look
In the last chapter, Cornelia's Jewels, two Roman boys admired their mother's richly dressed friend, who wore glittering jewels. The friend opened a casket of pearls, rubies, sapphires, and diamonds that dazzled the boys, then asked whether Cornelia, in her plain dress, was poor to own no such treasures. Cornelia drew her two sons close and answered that these were her jewels, worth far more than any gems. In later years the boys grew up to become great and useful men in Rome. The story is remembered as a lesson about a mother's love and the true worth of good children.
Read the previous lesson: Cornelia's Jewels →Show what you know!
Use your printable Lesson Guide. Fill in the vocabulary you know, then click to check your work and learn some new words today.
What are the difficult or advanced vocabulary words in Fifty Famous Stories Retold Chapter 27, Androclus and the Lion?limp, thorn, fierce, libertyHave a look
- limp: to walk unevenly, favoring a sore leg
- thorn: a sharp, stiff point growing on a plant
- fierce: violently angry or ready to attack
- liberty: freedom from being held or shut up
Locate it on the map!
Use your printable Lesson Guide. Use an atlas and fill in the blank map if you can find the geographic location, then click to check your work.
What important geographic location connects with Fifty Famous Stories Retold Chapter 27, Androclus and the Lion?
- Find Rome (Lazio, Italy).
See it on the mapHave a look
This matches the map in your Lesson Guide.
The Books come Alive!
Read or listen to Chapter 27 of Fifty Famous Stories Retold, the Kindred Thicket Enhanced Edition, read by Laura Caldwell.
Read by Laura Caldwell for LibriVox (public domain), professionally adjusted and trimmed by Kindred Thicket.
What do the Teacher’s Notes tell us about Chapter 27 of Fifty Famous Stories Retold?Parent review
This is a Kindred Thicket Enhanced Edition. Baldwin’s 1896 words are read exactly as he wrote them, and we add Teacher’s Notes with historical and literary context.
- About the whole bookFifty Famous Stories Retold gathers real history together with well-loved legends and traditions. These notes tell you, story by story, which is which.
- This chapterAndroclus and the grateful lion is an ancient tale, first told by the writer Apion and retold by the Roman author Aulus Gellius. It is a treasured legend about kindness returned rather than a recorded event.
Memory becomes Action!
Use the Response Resource* to remember and spell tricky names. Choose one way to narrate.
*Materials in the Lesson Guide.
What is the list of names, people, characters, and places that are important in Chapter 27 of Fifty Famous Stories Retold?Androclus, The lion, Androclus's master, RomeHave a look
- Androclus: A legendary Roman slave who ran away from a cruel master.
- The lion: The lame lion of the cave, who becomes Androclus's friend.
- Androclus's master: The cruel man Androclus serves in Rome.
- Rome: The city Androclus flees, and the city he is carried back to.
Chapter 27 Q & A
This is a Kindred Thicket Enhanced Edition. Baldwin’s stories mingle real history with beloved legend, and here is what to know about this one.
Is Androclus and the Lion a true story or a legend?
Androclus and the grateful lion is an ancient tale, first told by the writer Apion and retold by the Roman author Aulus Gellius. It is a treasured legend about kindness returned rather than a recorded event. So this story is best enjoyed as a beloved old legend, not as history that truly happened in Rome.
Who first told the story of Androclus?
The tale comes down to us from a writer named Apion and was retold long ago by the Roman author Aulus Gellius in his book of collected stories. Because it was passed along as a marvelous tale, it is remembered as a legend. The name is sometimes spelled Androcles, but the story is the same.
Would a runaway slave really have to fight a lion?
The story says Androclus was condemned by the law of that day to face a hungry lion before a crowd in the arena. Roman arenas did hold such cruel spectacles, but this particular tale is a legend, not a court record. The scene ends joyfully, with the lion revealed as his old friend and both of them set free.
What is the lesson of the story?
It is a story about mercy and kindness returned. Androclus shows pity by drawing the thorn from the lion's paw, and the grateful lion later spares and protects him. The gentle message is that a kindness done, even to a suffering animal, may come back to bless the one who gave it. It is treasured for that tender lesson.