Aesop clearly recommends the simple life
but which life would you rather have?
This is an edited version of one of Aesop’s
fables...
The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse
A Town Mouse
went on a visit to his cousin in the country.
He was rough and ready, this cousin, but he loved his town friend
and made him heartily welcome.
Beans and
bacon, cheese and bread, were all he had to offer, but he offered them freely. The Town Mouse turned up his nose at
this country food, and said: "I cannot understand, Cousin, how you can put
up with such poor food as this, but of course you cannot expect anything better
in the country; come with me and I will show you how to live. When you have been in town a week you will
wonder how you could ever have stood a country life."
No sooner
said than done: the two
mice set off for the town and arrived at the Town Mouse's residence late at
night.
"You will
want some refreshment after our long journey," said the polite Town Mouse,
and took his friend into the grand dining-room.
There they found the remains of a fine feast, and soon the two mice were
eating up jellies and cakes and all that was nice.
Suddenly they
heard growling and barking. "What
is that?" said the Country Mouse.
"It is
only the dogs of the house," answered the other.
"Only!"
said the Country Mouse. "I do not like
that music at my dinner."
Just at that
moment the door flew open, in came two huge dogs, and the two mice had to scamper
down and run off.
"Good-bye,
Cousin," said the Country Mouse.
"What! going
so soon?" said the other.
"Yes,"
he replied; "Better beans and bacon in peace than cakes and ale in
fear."
Vocabulary:
a moral – A teaching point in a story.
a fable – A made-up story or tale.
to be rough and ready – To be
unsophisticated.
to turn up your nose – To reject something
because you feel it is beneath you.
“No sooner said than done” – This is an
expression which means that what has been said can be quickly put into action.
to scamper – To run in a clumsy manner.
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