|
City Mouse and Country MouseReading time: 4 minutes. Word count: 700 words. |
Aesop's Fables, translated by Laura Gibbs (2002)
THE CITY MOUSE AND THE COUNTRY MOUSE (from the medieval fable by Ademar; Fable
#352)
A city mouse once happened to pay a visit to the house of a
country mouse where he was served a humble meal of acorns. The city mouse finished
his business in the country and by means of insistent invitations he persuaded
the country mouse to come pay him a visit. The city mouse then brought the country
mouse into a room that was overflowing with food. As they were feasting on various
delicacies, a butler opened the door. The city mouse quickly concealed himself
in a familiar mouse hole, but the poor country mouse was not acquainted with
the house and frantically scurried around the floorboards, frightened out of
his wits. When the butler had taken what he needed, he closed the door behind
him. The city mouse then urged the country mouse to sit back down to dinner.
The country mouse refused and said, 'How could I possibly do that? Oh, how scared
I am! Do you think that the man is going to come back?' This was all that the
terrified mouse was able to say. The city mouse insisted, 'My dear fellow, you
could never find such delicious food as this anywhere else in the world.' 'Acorns
are enough for me,' the country mouse maintained, 'so long as I am secure in
my freedom!'
It is better to live in self-sufficient poverty than to be tormented by the
worries of wealth.
Aesop's
Fables: Caxton (1484)
Of the two rats
Better worthe is to lyue in pouerte surely / than to lyue rychely
beyng euer in daunger / wherof Esope telleth suche a fable / There were two
rats / wherof the one was grete and fatte / and held hym in the celer of a Ryche
man And the other was poure and lene / On a daye this grete and fat ratte wente
to sporte hym in the feldes and mette by the way the poure rat / of the whiche
he was receyued as well as he coude in his poure cauerne or hole / and gaf hym
of suche mete as he had / Thenne sayd the fatte ratte come thow wyth me / And
I shalle gyue the wel other metes / He went with hym in to the toune / and entred
bothe in to the celer of the ryche man / the whiche celer was full of alle goodes
/ And whan they were within the grete rat presented and gaf to the poure rat
of the delycious metes / sayeng thus to hym / Be mery and make good chere /
and ete and drynke Ioyously / And as they were etynge / the bouteler of the
place came in to the celer / & the grete rat fled anon in to his hole /
& the poure rat wist not whyther he shold goo ne flee / but hyd hym behynd
the dore with grete fere and drede / and the bouteler torned ageyne and sawe
hym not / And whan he was gone the fatte rat cam out of his cauerne or hole
/ and called the poure ratte / whiche yet was shakynge for fere / and said to
hym / come hyder and be not aferd / & ete as moche as thou wylt / And the
poure rat sayd to hym / for goodes loue lete me go oute of this celer / For
I haue leuer ete some corne in the feldes and lyue surely / than to be euer
in this torment / for thou arte here in grete doubte & lyuest not surely
/
And therfore hit is good to lyue pourely & surely For the poure lyueth more
surely than the ryche
Aesop's Fables: Sir Roger L'Estrange (1692)
A CITY AND A COUNTRY MOUSE
There goes an old Story of a Country-Mouse that invited a
City-Sister of hers to a Country Collation, where she spar’d for nothing
that the Place afforded; as mouldy Crusts, Cheese-Parings, musty Oatmeal, rusty
Bacon, and the like. Now the City-Dame was so well bred, as seemingly to take
all in good part; but yet at last, Sister (says she, after the civilest Fashion)
why will you be miserable when you may be happy? Why will you lie pining and
pinching your self in such a lonesome starving Course of Life as this is, when
‘tis but going to Town along with me; to enjoy all the Pleasures and Plenty
that your Heart can wish? This was a Temptation the Country-Mouse was not able
to resist; so that away they trudg’d together, and about Midnight got
to their Journey’s End. The City-Mouse shewed her Friend the Larder, the
Pantry, the Kitchen, and other Offices where she laid her Stores; and after
this, carried her into the Parlour, where they found, yet upon the Table, the
Relicks of a mighty Entertainment of that very Night. The City-Mouse carv’d
her Companion of what she liked best, so to’t they fell upon a Velvet
Couch together. The poor Bumpkin, that had never seen nor heard of such Doings
before, bless’d her self at the Change of Condition, when (as ill luck
would have it) all of a sudden the Doors flew open, and in comes a Crew of roring
Bullies, with their Wenches, their Dogs, and their Bottles, and put the poor
Mice to their wit’s end how to save their Skins; the Stranger especially,
that had never been at this sport before: but she made a shift however for the
present to slink into a Corner, where she lay trembling and panting till the
Company went their way. So soon as ever the House was quiet again; Well! My
Court-Sister, says she, if this be the way of your Town-Gamboles, I’ll
e’en back to my Cottage, and my mouldy Cheese again; for I had much rather
lie knabbing of Crusts, without either Fear or Danger, in my own Hole, than
be Mistress of the whole World with perpetual Cares and Alarms.
THE MORAL The Difference of a Court and Country Life. The Delights, Innocence,
and Security of the one, compar’d with the Anxiety, the Lewdness, and
the Hazards of the other.
Questions. Make sure you can answer these questions about what you just read:
Source: Laura Gibbs, translator. Aesop's Fables (2003). Weblink.
|
Modern
Languages / Anthropology 3043: Folklore & Mythology.
Laura Gibbs, Ph.D.
This work is licensed under a Creative
Commons License.
You must give the original author credit. You may not use this work for commercial
purposes. If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute
the resulting work only under a license identical to this one. |