3. THE CAT AND THE MICE

 

THE CAT AND THE MICE

3. THE CAT AND THE MICE [slow] [normal]

 

There was once a house that was overrun with Mice. A Cat heard of this, and said to herself, "That's the place for me," and off she went and took up her quarters in the house.

There, she could catch the Mice one by one and eat them. At last the Mice could stand it no longer, and they determined to hide in their holes and stay there.

"That's awkward," said the Cat to herself: "the only thing to do is to trick them out of their holes."

So she considered a while, and then climbed up the wall and let herself hang upside down from a peg, and pretended to be dead.

Soon a Mouse peeped out and saw the Cat hanging there. "Aha!" it cried, "you're very clever, ma'am. But you can hang there as long as you like, until you turn into a bag of flour. Still you won't catch us coming anywhere near you."

If you are wise you won't be tricked by the innocent airs of those whom you have once found to be dangerous.