THE COCK, THE
CAT,
AND THE MOUSE
The Brothers Grimm
Once upon a time . . . a
little mouse decided to go and see the world. Packing some food for the
journey, he carefully locked his door and set off for the unknown. And
what a wonderful world he saw! Tall trees, rolling countryside, flowers
and butterflies he had never set eyes on before. On he hiked till, tired
out, he came to a peasant's cottage. After eating some of his packed
lunch, he thought he would inspect what, to him, was a peculiar sort of
building. He entered the farmyard and his eyes grew round as saucers:
there in front of him were two strange animals he had never seen before.
One was large and handsome, with four legs, covered all over with soft
fur, and sporting splendid white whiskers that gave it a solemn
respectable air. It was dozing against the wall. The other, a two-legged
creature, had red, yellow and green feathers and a fierce, bad-tempered
look. A pair of cruel eyes in a red-crested head glared at the little
mouse.
"How do you do, sir!
How do you do..." began the mouse's greeting, as he felt foolish at
not knowing the stranger's name. But the feathered creature simply puffed
out its chest, screeched a loud "Cocka-doodle-doo!" and strutted
towards the mouse, now paralyzed with fear. The little mouse saw the big
yellow beak hovering over him. "I must run!" he squeaked,
turning tail and fleeing as fast as his legs would carry him. He spied a
hole in the wall and dived into it. Inside, three faces stared at him in
amazement.
"Where did you appear
from?" they asked.
"I've come . .
." gasped the little mouse breathlessly, ". . . from far away!
Where am I now?"
"This is our home.
We're field mice. What happened?" And the little mouse told them
about the animals he had met in the farmyard: one handsome and harmless,
the other brightly coloured and ferocious. The three field mice laughed.
"Calm down," they said. "Have a cup of coffee. Don't you
realize the danger you were in? The creature that frightened you is only a
cock, but the nice harmless one is our deadliest enemy, the cat! If he'd
seen you, you wouldn't be here to tell the tale. As you see, you can't
always judge by appearances!"
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