Long ago, the mice had a general council to consider what measures they
could take to outwit their common enemy, the Cat. Some said this, and
some said that; but at last a young mouse got up and said he had a
proposal to make, which he thought would meet the case. “You will all
agree,” said he, “that our chief danger consists in the sly and
treacherous manner in which the enemy approaches us. Now, if we could
receive some signal of her approach, we could easily escape from her. I
venture, therefore, to propose that a small bell be procured, and
attached by a ribbon round the neck of the Cat. By this means we should
always know when she was about, and could easily retire while she was
in the neighbourhood.”
This proposal met with general applause, until an old mouse got up and
said: “That is all very well, but who is to bell the Cat?” The mice
looked at one another and nobody spoke. Then the old mouse said:
“It is easy to propose impossible remedies.”