THE MICE AND THE WEASEL

You might think I am only joking, and it's true that I amuse myself with a light-hearted stroke of the pen, not having anything of real importance on my agenda. Yet you should pay careful attention to these little tales: useful things can come in quite small packages! Appearances can be deceiving: people are often fooled by first impressions, and it takes an exceptional mind to detect something hidden in an unexpected nook or cranny. Still, I've gone on too long without offering any reward to the reader, so I will thrown in a fable for good measure: the story of the weasel and the mice.
A weasel, enfeebled by old age and senility, was no longer able to pursue the swift-footed mice, so she decided to coat herself with flour and lie down nonchalantly in a dark corner of the house. One of the mice thought that she must be something good to eat, but as soon as he pounced, the weasel caught him and consigned him to oblivion; another mouse did the same, and a third mouse likewise met his doom. A few mice later, another mouse arrived: his skin was wrinkled with extreme old age and he had escaped many a time from snares and traps. Already at a distance he recognized the ambush prepared by their cunning enemy. 'You there, lying in the corner,' said the mouse, 'I wish you well if -- and only if -- you really are made of flour!'