A LITTLE starveling Mouse had made his way with some difficulty into a
basket of corn, where, finding the entertainment much to his liking, he
stuffed and crammed himself to such an extent that when he was ready
to get out again, he found the hole by which he had entered too small
to allow his puffed-out body to pass through. A Weasel, who was drawn
to the spot by his cries, thus counseled him: “Stay where you are, my
friend, and fast till you are thin; for you will never come out till
you reduce yourself to the same condition as when you went in.”