The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse

The country mouse welcomed his cousin with a meal of barley, roots, and a little apple. They ate beneath a hedge while the evening settled over the fields.

The town mouse tasted everything politely, then spoke of cheese, cakes, and cupboards that never seemed to empty. “Come home with me,” she said. “You need not live on scraps like these.”

So the country mouse followed her to a grand house. In the dining room, crumbs lay on a white cloth. There were soft pieces of bread, sweet fruit, and a wonderful wedge of cheese. He had never imagined such abundance.

He was just choosing his second mouthful when the door opened. The cousins dived beneath a cabinet. Boots crossed the floor. A dog sniffed near the wall. The country mouse held his breath until his ribs hurt.

After a long wait they crept back to the table. His cousin laughed and told him there was nothing unusual about it.

Then a cat sprang onto a chair.

This time the country mouse reached the hiding place before he knew he had begun to run. He sat trembling beside the cabinet leg, unable even to remember the taste of cheese.

At dawn he thanked his cousin and set off for home.

“Will you really choose barley over all this?” she asked.

“I choose to finish my supper,” he said.

That evening he ate an apple beneath his hedge. It was a small apple. He enjoyed every unhurried bite.