THE CONCEITED MOUSE

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 62, 4 June 1927, Page 27 (Supplement)

THE CONCEITED MOUSE

You all know, of course, that the three blind mice had their tails cut off by the farmer’s wife. Well, the mouse in this story lost his tail, but in quite a different way. He was a very conceited mouse, and was always boasting about his courage. All the elder mice where he lived disliked him —he was so rude to them. Some of the younger ones were inclined to admire him, and would say to their parents: “But he’s very brave, isn’t he?” “Very foolish,” the old mice would reply. “He’ll lose his tail one day. Just you wait and see.”

Whilst playing with his friends one day the mouse started telling them how brave he was* “There’s nothing that I wouldn’t risk,” he said with a swagger. “Oh!” remarked a fat but rather timid mouse, “I think there is.” “Don’t be silly,”' answered the rude mouse, “there’s nothing I’m afraid to do.” “Very well, I defy you to go in the mouse trap in the kitchen to-night and bring away the lump of cheese that’s inside,” said the fat mouse. “Pooh,” of course I will,” replied the boastful one. “I’ll go and get that cheese to-night. He didn’t feel happy, though. Suppose he was caught! It made him tremble to think of it, but he could not back out of the adventure now.

That night, when his parents were asleep, he crawlc # I through the little hole into the kitchen. There was the trap, and in it a delightful piece of cheese. “Smells good!” said the mouse. He cautiously entered the trap and began nibbling at the cheese. Hooray! It came away in his mouth. He was out of the trap when snap! went something and caught him by the tail. “Oh, dear,” he gasped in a fright, and tugged and tugged. Ho dragged the trap to the hole in the wall, and got his body safe in the little passage, but still he was caught fast. However, for all his boastful ways, the mouse did have some pluck, and he gave one tremendous pull, and fou»d himself hurled along the little passage. He was free! Yes. but ho had left his tail behind him in the trap, and even the piece of cheese which he had won didn’t make up for that.