Androcles there a story told by Apion in his lost work "Aegyptiacorum" (Wonders of Egypt), the events of which Apion claimed to have personally witnessed in Rome. In this version, Androclus (going by the Latin variation of the name), is a runaway slave of a former Roman consul administering a part of Africa. He takes shelter in a cave, which turns out to be the den of a wounded lion, from whose paw he removes a large thorn. In gratitude, the lion becomes tame towards him and henceforward shares his catch with the slave. After three years, Androclus craves a return
Thorn in the flesh based on the description in Numbers 33:55. As an example usage, the "Oxford English Dictionary" cites E. M. Forster's 1924 novel "A Passage to India," in which Nawab Bahadur says, "I can be a thorn in Mr. Turton's flesh, and if he asks me I accept the invitation." Thorn in the flesh Thorn in the flesh is a phrase of New Testament origin used to describe a chronic infirmity, annoyance, or trouble in one's life, drawn from Paul the Apostle's use of the phrase in his Second Epistle to the Corinthians 12:7–9: Other biblical passages where "thorn" is used as