Once, a little mouse who lived in the country village invited his cousin mouse from the city to visit him. When the city mouse sat down to have dinner, he was surprised to see that the village mouse had nothing to offer him except barley and some grain.
He said scornfully, “Dear cousin, is this what you eat every day? I beg your pardon for saying so, but you do not live well at all here in the village. You must come to visit me once and see how I live!” The city mouse bragged further, “I have all sorts of fine things to eat every day. If you see my royal life style there in the city, you would never want to come back.”
The village mouse was very impressed to hear about his cousin’s way of life and thus, he decided to visit him.
The city mouse warmly welcomed his cousin and the first place that he showed him was the kitchen. There were myriad delicious food items lying in the kitchen cabinets. There was bread, cheese, fruit, cereals and all sorts of grains. The village mouse could not believe his eyes as he had not seen so much of food in one place ever back in his village.
Then the two mice went to the dining area to have their lunch. A lavish meal, including delicious cakes, dessert and wine was laid out on the dining table. When they were just about to start their lunch, they heard a distinct ‘Meeeeow’ coming towards them. It was a cat that was about to pounce on them. The two mice left whatever they had in their hands and scampered off to safety.
The village mouse was very frightened and asked his cousin, “Who is she? Does she also live here in this house?” The city mouse replied, “She is Snowy, the cat. The owners have kept her to rid the house of the mice. I have to daily deal with her in order to savour all those delicious meals.”
The cat looked for them for some time and then left. Both the mice came out again sat down to have their lunch but, just then the owners of that house also came to have their lunch. The mice had to run for their lives again and remain hungry till the night.
In the night, the city mouse took his cousin to the cellar to find something to eat. The village mouse saw a big piece of cheese lying on the board and was just about to grab it when he heard his cousin yelling from behind, “Stop! That is a trap! You may get killed.”
The little village mouse looked at the trap, and he looked at the cheese, and then he looked at the little city mouse. He said, “I think I will go home. I would rather have barley and grain to eat, and eat it in peace and comfort, than have cakes and desserts and cheese and be frightened to death all the time!” The city mouse had nothing to say.
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