About two thousand years ago, in Ancient Rome, lived a slave named Antonio. His destiny, like that of most slaves, was to fight in the Colosseum to life and death against lions.

The dreaded moment had come and he waited his turn locked in a dungeon from which it was impossible to escape. When it seemed that there was no choice but to accept that it was the end, luck wanted a guard soldier to wake up and leave the cell lock open.   Antonio saw a chance to get away... and he ran away!

He took advantage of the night to run out into the woods, with no fixed place to go. For hours, protected by darkness, the poor boy wandered back and forth and fed on the little edible things he found along the way.

It almost dawned when, suddenly, he saw a lion that could hardly move and groaned like a kitten. Although he was big and looked like a leafy mane, he did not look like an aggressive animal. Antony approached him keeping a safe distance and asked him why he was complaining.

– What's the matter, lion friend? It's the first time I've seen a beast like you cry bitterly.

– I feel so bad! I've stepped on a big, sharp thorn that's stuck in my paw. The wound bleeds non-stop Please help me, I beg you!

– Don't worry, I'll see what I can do.

Antony was buried to see the poor lion suffering. If I didn't help him, he'd be ungrateed. He approached by overcome fear and watched the paw carefully. The truth is that the wound looked very ugly and had to act quickly.

He ripped a piece of cloth from his sleeve and approached a small spring that sprouted a few feet away. He wet the tissue and returned by the lion to clean the wound of dirt and blood well. Afterwards, he sought the thorn and, very carefully, extracted it skillfully. To soothe the pain and lower the inflammation, he used as a dressing on the injured area green leaves mixed with mud It was an old remedy that did not often fail!

After a while, the lion felt much better.