Once upon a time there was a Cat who lived in a large farm-house in
which there was a great number of Mice. For many years the Cat found no
difficulty in catching as many Mice as she wanted to eat, and she lived
a very peaceful and pleasant life. But as time passed on she found that
she was growing old and infirm, and that it was becoming more and more
difficult for her to catch the same number of Mice as before; so after
thinking very carefully what was the best thing to do, she one day
called all the Mice together, and after promising not to touch them,
she addressed them as follows:
“Oh! Mice,” said she, “I have called you together in order to say
something to you. The fact is that I have led a very wicked life, and
now, in my old age, I repent of having caused you all so much
inconvenience and annoyance. So I am going for the future to turn over
a new leaf. It is my intention now to give myself up entirely to
religious contemplation and no longer to molest you, so henceforth you
are at liberty to run about as freely as you will without fear of me.
All I ask of you is that twice every day you should all file past me in
procession and each one make an obeisance as you pass me by, as a token
of your gratitude to me for my kindness.”
When the Mice heard this they were greatly pleased, for they thought
that now, at last, they would be free from all danger from their former
enemy, the Cat. So they very thankfully promised to fulfil the Cat’s
conditions, and agreed that they would file past her and make a salaam
twice every day.
So when evening came the Cat took her seat on a cushion at one end of
the room, and the Mice all went by in single file, each one making a
profound salaam as it passed.
Now the cunning old Cat had arranged this little plan very carefully
with an object of her own; for, as soon as the procession had all
passed by with the exception of one little Mouse, she suddenly seized
the last Mouse in her claws without anybody else noticing what had
happened, and devoured it at her leisure. And so twice every day, she
seized the last Mouse of the series, and for a long time lived very
comfortably without any trouble at all in catching her Mice, and
without any of the Mice realising what was happening.
Now it happened that amongst these Mice there were two friends, whose
names were Rambé and Ambé, who were very much attached to one another.
Now these two were much cleverer and more cunning than most of the
others, and after a few days they noticed that the number of Mice in
the house seemed to be decreasing very much, in spite of the fact that
the Cat had promised not to kill any more. So they laid their heads
together and arranged a little plan for future processions. They agreed
that Rambé was always to walk at the very front of the procession of
the Mice, and that Ambé was to bring up the rear, and that all the time
the procession was passing, Rambé was to call to Ambé, and Ambé to
answer Rambé at frequent intervals. So next evening, when the
procession started as usual, Rambé marched along in front, and Ambé
took up his position last of all. As soon as Rambé had passed the
cushion where the Cat was seated and had made his salaam, he called out
in a shrill voice.
“Where are you, Brother Ambé?”
“Here I am, Brother Rambé,” squeaked the other from the rear of the
procession. And so they went on calling and answering one another until
they had all filed past the Cat, who had not dared to touch Ambé as
long as his brother kept calling to him.
The Cat was naturally very much annoyed at having to go hungry that
evening, and felt very cross all night. But she thought it was only an
accident which had brought the two friends, one in front and one in
rear of the procession, and she hoped to make up for her enforced
abstinence by finding a particularly fat Mouse at the end of the
procession next morning. What, then, was her amazement and disgust when
she found that on the following morning the very same arrangement had
been made, and that Rambé called to Ambé, and Ambé answered Rambé until
all the Mice had passed her by, and so, for the second time, she was
foiled of her meal. However, she disguised her feelings of anger and
decided to give the Mice one more trial; so in the evening she took her
seat as usual on the cushion and waited for the Mice to appear.
Meanwhile, Rambé and Ambé had warned the other Mice to be on the
lookout, and to be ready to take flight the moment the Cat showed any
appearance of anger. At the appointed time the procession started as
usual, and as soon as Rambé had passed the Cat he squeaked out:
“Where are you, Brother Ambé?”
“Here I am, Brother Rambé,” came the shrill voice from the rear.
This was more than the Cat could stand. She made a fierce leap right
into the middle of the Mice, who, however, were thoroughly prepared for
her, and in an instant they scuttled off in every direction to their
holes. And before the Cat had time to catch a single one the room was
empty and not a sign of a Mouse was to be seen anywhere.
After this the Mice were very careful not to put any further trust in
the treacherous Cat, who soon after died of starvation owing to her
being unable to procure any of her customary food; whilst Rambé and
Ambé lived for many years, and were held in high honour and esteem by
all the other Mice in the community.
STORY No. VI.