Fable
The Cat & the Old Rat
There was once a Cat who was so watchful, that
a Mouse hardly dared show the tip of his whiskers for fear of being eaten
alive. That Cat seemed to be everywhere at once with his claws all ready for a
pounce. At last, the Mice kept so closely to their dens, that the Cat saw he
would have to use his wits well to catch one. So, one day he climbed up on a
shelf and hung from it, head downward, as if he were dead, holding himself up
by clinging to some ropes with one paw.
When
the Mice peeped out and saw him in that position, they thought he had been hung
up there in punishment for some misdeed. Very timidly at first, they stuck out
their heads and sniffed about carefully. But as nothing stirred, all trooped
joyfully out to celebrate the death of the Cat.
Just
then the Cat let go his hold, and before the Mice recovered from their
surprise, he had made an end of three or four.
Now
the Mice kept more strictly at home than ever. But the Cat, who was still
hungry for Mice, knew more tricks than one. Rolling himself in flour until he
was covered completely, he lay down in the flour bin, with one eye open for the
Mice.
Sure
enough, the Mice soon began to come out. To the Cat it was almost as if he
already had a plump young Mouse under his claws, when an old Rat, who had had
much experience with Cats and traps, and had even lost a part of his tail to
pay for it, sat up at a safe distance from a hole in the wall where he lived.
"Take
care!" he cried. "That may be a heap of meal, but it looks to me very
much like the Cat. Whatever it is, it is wisest to keep at a safe
distance."
Moral
- The
wise do not let themselves be tricked a second time.
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