DOGS, CATS AND MICE

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 303, 14 March 1928, Page 6

DOGS, CATS AND MICE

In the old days, when dogs and cats and mice lived in perfect harmony together, the dogs asked the cats to keep certain documents of great importance 6afely till they came back for them. The cats looked at the pile of old papers, and they thought, “Why should we be bothered with these old scraps of papers? Let us ask the mice to take care of this queer treasure; it is just what they are fit for.” So they did, and the mice promised to keep an eye on the documents, so that nothing should get lost. Meanwhile winter came, and a hard winter, too. The poor little mice suffered from hunger and cold. There was no grain or food left for them. Being in despair, they began to nibble at the old documents. The paper was not so bad after all. So they gnawed and nibbled and ate the best parts, and tore the bad ones into tiny shreds, til] there was not one whole piece. At last one day the dogs wanted their documents back, so they went to the cats. But the cats said, “We thought it would be safer to give your documents to our friends the mice, so they kept them. Now we will go and fetch them for you.” So off they went. But instead of the documents they found only scraps of paper lying on the floor. The cats were furious. They vowed to kill every mouse they ever met. But the dogs, when they heard the sad news, got angry too, and they began to chase the cats, and they have never stopped doing it since that time.