Once upon a time . . . a town mouse,
on a trip to the country, met a country
mouse. They spent the day together and
became friends. The country mouse took
his new friend into the meadows and
vegetable gardens, making him sample all
the good things of the land. Never having
seen the beauties of the countryside, the
town mouse was thrilled, though the
country mouse's plain food wasn't nearly
as fine as his own usual meals. To thank
his friend for the lovely outing, he
invited the country mouse to visit him
in the town. And when the country mouse
saw the pantry at his friend's house,
full of hams, cheese, oil, flour, honey,
jam and stacks of other goodies, he
stood speechless with surprise.
"I've never seen anything like it!
Are all those wonderful things for
eating?"
"Of course!" came the re-ply. "You're
my guest, so tuck in!" They began to
feast, while the country mouse tried not
to stuff himself. He wanted to taste
everything before finding his tummy full.
"You're the luckiest mouse I've ever
met!" said the country mouse to his
town brother. The town mouse was
listening with delight to his friend's
praise, when suddenly, the sound of
heavy footsteps interrupted their
feast.
"Run for it!" whispered the town
mouse to his friend.
They were just in
time: for within an inch of them stood
the lady of the house's large foot.
Luckily, the lady went away and the two
mice returned to enjoy their meal, so
rudely interrupted.
"It's all right! Come on!" said the
town mouse."Don't worry. She's gone.
Now for the honey! It's delicious! Have
you ever tasted it?"
"Yes, once, a long time ago,"the
country mouse lied, trying to sound
casual. But when he tasted it, he
exclaimed: "Scrumptious! By the King
of Mice! I ve never eaten anything so
lovely in all my life!"
Suddenly there came the sound of
footsteps, this time thumping heavily.
The two mice fled. The man of the house
had come to fetch some bottles, and
when he saw the spilt honey, he groaned:
"Those ghastly mice again! I thought
I've got rid of them. I'll send the
cat!" And trembling with terror, the
mice hid away. This time it was not
only the sudden visit that had given
them a fright, it was the man's awful
words. The mice were so scared, they
held their breath, making no sound.
Then, since all remained quiet, they
began to feel braver, and picked up
enough courage to leave their hidey-hole.
"We can come out now! There's
nobody here!" the town mouse whispered.
Suddenly, the pantry door creaked, and
the two luckless mice froze in fear.
Out of the dim light glowed a pair of
horrid yellow eyes. A large cat was
staring round the room in search of
its prey. The country mouse and the
town mouse tiptoed silently back to
their hidey-hole. They wished their
pounding hearts would stop beating,
for fear of the cat hearing the noise
they made. But, as luck would have it,
the cat discovered a juicy sausage.
Forgetting why his master had sent him
into the pantry, he stopped to eat it.
No longer hungry, after that, the cat
decided that he might as well leave
mouse-hunting for another day. Off he
padded, to have forty winks elsewhere.
Now, as soon as the country mouse
realized that all danger was past, he
did not lose a second. He hastily
shook hands with his friend, saying:
"Thanks so much for everything! But
I must rush off now! I can't stand all
these shocks! I'd far rather sit
down to a meal of a few acorns in
peace, in the country, than face a
great spread of delicious food,
surrounded by dangers on all sides and
with my heart in my mouth!"
