An ‧ dro ‧ cles and the Li ‧ on /ˌændrəkliːz ənd ðə ˈlaɪən/ BrE AmE
an ancient Roman story about a ↑ slave called Androcles who escapes from his owner and meets a lion with a ↑ thorn (=a sharp pointed part of a plant) in its foot. Androcles removes the thorn. Later he is caught and is made to fight with a lion in the ↑ arena as punishment for escaping, but the lion is the same one that he helped, and instead of attacking him, it greets him as a friend.