A Town Mouse once visited a relative who lived in the country.
For lunch the Country Mouse served wheat stalks, roots, and
acorns, with a dash of cold water for drink. The Town Mouse ate
very sparingly, nibbling a little of this and a little of that,
and by her manner making it very plain that she ate the simple
food only to be polite.
After the meal the friends had a long talk, or rather the Town
Mouse talked about her life in the city while the Country Mouse
listened. They then went to bed in a cozy nest in the hedgerow
and slept in quiet and comfort until morning. In her sleep the
Country Mouse dreamed she was a Town Mouse with all the luxuries
and delights of city life that her friend had described for her.
So the next day when the Town Mouse asked the Country Mouse to go
home with her to the city, she gladly said yes.
When they reached the mansion in which the Town Mouse lived, they
found on the table in the dining room the leavings of a very fine
banquet. There were sweetmeats and jellies, pastries, delicious
cheeses, indeed, the most tempting foods that a Mouse can
imagine. But just as the Country Mouse was about to nibble a
dainty bit of pastry, she heard a Cat mew loudly and scratch at
the door. In great fear the Mice scurried to a hiding place,
where they lay quite still for a long time, hardly daring to
breathe. When at last they ventured back to the feast, the door
opened suddenly and in came the servants to clear the table,
followed by the House Dog.
The Country Mouse stopped in the Town Mouse's den only long
enough to pick up her carpet bag and umbrella.
"You may have luxuries and dainties that I have not," she said as
she hurried away, "but I prefer my plain food and simple life in
the country with the peace and security that go with it."
_Poverty with security is better than plenty in the midst of fear
and uncertainty._
[Illustration: THE TOWN MOUSE AND THE COUNTRY MOUSE]
[Illustration]