The mice and the cat

Aesop and the Mice and the Cat

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There lived several families of mice in a big mansion. Life was good for them as there was always an abundance of food, especially in the kitchen. But one day, the master of the mansion brought home a cat. Since then, life became miserable for the mice.

Day or night, the cat would prowl the mansion. The mice dared not come out of their dens because the cat was always lurking around.

As the days passed, the mice became weaker and weaker because they could not venture out of their dens to find food.

Finally, an old mouse said, "We cannot go on like this, or we will all die of hunger and thirst very soon. We have to find a way to deal with the cat."

"Indeed, we have to come up with a plan," agreed another mouse. "Let’s get all the mice together tonight and see if we can think of something."

Soon, it was nightfall. All the mice had gathered at their usual meeting place in the mansion.

The eldest mouse cleared his throat and said, "I’m sure all of us have not been very happy of late because of our common enemy, the cat."

All the mice nodded their heads and muttered their agreement.

The eldest mouse continued, "We must therefore act together now and come up with a plan to deal with the cat. Or we will all end up as the cat’s meal one day"

One of the mice suggested killing the cat, and every mouse agreed it was a good idea.

So, the mice began discussing various plans about how to kill the cat. But as soon as someone proposed a new plan, others would reject it as unworkable.

Finally, a young mouse said, "We may not be able to kill the cat, but perhaps we can think of a way to know its whereabouts. That way, if we know it is coming, we will have time to run"

The other mice cheered at the suggestion.

The young mouse continued, "I have a plan. It’s very simple, really. All we need to do is to hang a bell around the cat’s neck. Wherever it goes, the bell will ring.

If the bell is really big, we can even hear when the cat is coming before it is even close!"

All the mice jumped and clapped at the idea.

Suddenly, a wise old mouse said, "That is a very brilliant idea. Now, who will hang the bell around the cat’s neck?"

 

Moral: It is one thing to say that something should be done, but quite another to do it.

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