Scores of mice lived in a bakery in a small town. One day, one mouse came running and panting to the other mice, gasping for his breath. “What happened, brother?” asked the other mice.
The first mouse took a deep breath and said, “The owner of the bakery has got a cat. It is a big, black cat with long whiskers. It has big green eyes and has sharp claws too.”
All the mice in the bakery shivered. ‘What should be done now?’ everyone was wondering. All the mice were scared as they would live in fear all the time and be on the lookout for the cat. The matter was very important and required immediate attention.
At last, the oldest and the wisest mouse came up with an idea. He said, “Why don’t we put a bell around the cat’s neck? This way we will get to know whenever we are close to the cat.” Everyone applauded the idea and took a sigh of relief.
But then someone asked, “Who will tie the bell around the cat’s neck?” No one came forward and then they decided that the old mouse will go and tie the bell as it is the old mouse’s idea. The old mouse outrightly refused as he was too old.
None of the mice agreed to go and bell the cat. A few days went by. No one came forward to bell the cat. But every day, one or the other mouse was getting caught by the cat as her meal.
All the mice lived in fear. Finally, they decided to move to the next bakery and live their life peacefully.
