Androcles lives a miserable life as the slave of a cruel and unjust master. Even though runaway slaves face the death penalty, he flees to the nearby woods. There Androcles delights in his new-found freedom. He also makes an unusual friend: a lion with an injured paw. The two live together happily, but the lion gets captured, and shortly afterwards Androcles, too. Androcles is punished by being fed to a lion.

Even though Randy is much loved at home, he has a serious problem—everything he has is old! His rich neighbor Mike, who often teases him, has a new bike, new toys, and never does chores. Randy, however, rides an old bike, has old toys, and has to do all kinds of work around the house. Though Randy is often reminded that “things don’t bring happiness,” he desperately wishes he could be rich so he could buy everything new.

Nicholas knows that guarding the family’s sheep is important, but he also thinks it’s one of the most boring jobs in the world. He decides to make his day more exciting by shouting “Wolf!” so the townspeople will run to help. His practical joke is a huge success from his point of view, but the townspeople are furious.

Christopher has great dreams of becoming an inventor, but he dislikes anything requiring work. When Christopher’s friend and mentor, Dr. Finkle, invents a time remote, his dreams come true! He gets the time remote and avoids all unpleasant activities like math tests and eating vegetables. Who needs to do homework and eat right? Let’s just eat dessert and play!