Androcles and the Lion is a classic story about a SLAVE named Androcles who encounters a lion with a THORN in its PAW. He removes the THORN, and the lion is so grateful that it follows him around like a pet. Eventually, Androcles is thrown into an ARENA to be eaten by a lion, but when the lion arrives, it turns out to be the same one he had helped. The lion spares Androcles and they both escape together. The crossword solutions for this story are THORN (5 letters), PAW (3 letters), ARENA (5 letters), SLAVE (5 letters), and LEO (3 letters).