Jataka Woodpecker Lion

tale:jataka_woodpecker_lion

A woodpecker, hearing a lion choke on a bone, props its jaws open with a stick and draws the bone out. Later, in want, it asks the lion for some small kindness; the lion answers that the woodpecker should count itself rewarded enough for having put its head in a lion's mouth and lived. Moral: from the wicked, count mere survival as reward. — Jataka tale