The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse
A Town Mouse once visited a relative who lived in the country. For lunch the Country Mouse served
wheat stalks, roots, and acorns, with a dash of cold water for drink. The Town Mouse ate very sparingly,
nibbling a little of this and a little of that, and by her manner making it very plain that she ate the simple
food only to be polite.
After the meal the friends had a long talk, or rather the Town Mouse talked about her life in the city
while the Country Mouse listened. They then went to bed in a cozy nest in the hedgerow and slept in
quiet and comfort until morning. In her sleep the Country Mouse dreamed she was a Town Mouse with
all the luxuries and delights of city life that her friend had described for her. So the next day when the
Town Mouse asked the Country Mouse to go home with her to the city, she gladly said yes.
When they reached the mansion in which the Town Mouse lived, they found on the table in the dining
room the leavings of a very fine banquet. There were sweetmeats and jellies, pastries, delicious cheeses,
indeed, the most tempting foods that a Mouse can imagine. But just as the Country Mouse was about to
nibble a dainty bit of pastry, she heard a Cat mew loudly and scratch at the door. In great fear the Mice
scurried to a hiding place, where they lay quite still for a long time, hardly daring to breathe. When at
last they ventured back to the feast, the door opened suddenly and in came the servants to clear the
table, followed by the House Dog.
The Country Mouse stopped in the Town Mouse's den only long enough to pick up her carpet bag and
umbrella.
"You may have luxuries and dainties that I have not," she said as she hurried away, "but I prefer my plain
food and simple life in the country with the peace and security that go with it."
Poverty with security is better than plenty in the midst of fear and uncertainty.
The Fox and the Grapes
A Fox one day spied a beautiful bunch of ripe grapes hanging from a vine trained along the branches of a
tree. The grapes seemed ready to burst with juice, and the Fox's mouth watered as he gazed longingly at
them.
The bunch hung from a high branch, and the Fox had to jump for it. The first time he jumped he missed
it by a long way. So he walked off a short distance and took a running leap at it, only to fall short once
more. Again and again he tried, but in vain.
Now he sat down and looked at the grapes in disgust.
"What a fool I am," he said. "Here I am wearing myself out to get a bunch of sour grapes that are not
worth gaping for."
And off he walked very, very scornfully.
There are many who pretend to despise and belittle that which is beyond their reach.
The Frogs and the Ox
An Ox came down to a reedy pool to drink. As he splashed heavily into the water, he crushed a young
Frog into the mud.
The old Frog soon missed the little one and asked his brothers and sisters what had become of him.
"A great big monster," said one of them, "stepped on little brother with one of his huge feet!"
"Big, was he!" said the old Frog, puffing herself up. "Was he as big as this?"
"Oh, much bigger!" they cried.
The Frog puffed up still more.
"He could not have been bigger than this," she said. But the little Frogs all declared that the monster
was much, much bigger and the old Frog kept puffing herself out more and more until, all at once, she
burst.
Do not attempt the impossible.
The Lion and the Mouse
A Lion lay asleep in the forest, his great head resting on his paws. A timid little Mouse came upon him
unexpectedly, and in her fright and haste to get away, ran across the Lion's nose. Roused from his nap,
the Lion laid his huge paw angrily on the tiny creature to kill her.
"Spare me!" begged the poor Mouse. "Please let me go and some day I will surely repay you."
The Lion was much amused to think that a Mouse could ever help him. But he was generous and finally
let the Mouse go.
Some days later, while stalking his prey in the forest, the Lion was caught in the toils of a hunter's net.
Unable to free himself, he filled the forest with his angry roaring. The Mouse knew the voice and quickly
found the Lion struggling in the net. Running to one of the great ropes that bound him, she gnawed it
until it parted, and soon the Lion was free.
"You laughed when I said I would repay you," said the Mouse. "Now you see that even a Mouse can help
a Lion."
A kindness is never wasted.
The Crow and the Pitcher
In a spell of dry weather, when the Birds could find very little to drink, a thirsty Crow found a pitcher
with a little water in it. But the pitcher was high and had a narrow neck, and no matter how he tried, the
Crow could not reach the water. The poor thing felt as if he must die of thirst.
Then an idea came to him. Picking up some small pebbles, he dropped them into the pitcher one by one.
With each pebble the water rose a little higher until at last it was near enough so he could drink.
In a pinch a good use of our wits may help us out.