Once upon a time, in the kitchen of a farmhouse, there lived a tiny, brownish-grey mouse. One day, looking through the crack in the wall the mouse watched as the farmer and his wife opened a package.
"I wonder what food the package might contain?" The mouse asked himself. He was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.
Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning: "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"
The chicken clucked and scratched searching for food. Raising her head, she turned to the mouse and said, "Mr. Mouse,I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it."
The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"
The pig sympathized, but said, "I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers."
The mouse turned to the cow and said "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"
The cow said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose."
So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap alone.
That very night a sound was heard throughout the house. It was the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey.
The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see that it was a venomous snake whose tail was being held fast by the trap. The snake bit the farmer's wife.
The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever.
Now, everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient.
But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbours came to sit with her around the clock. In order to feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.
Still the farmer's wife did not get well. One day; she died. So many people came for her funeral that the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.
All the poor little mouse could do was look upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.
So, the next time you hear of someone who is facing a problem and think it
doesn't concern you, remember -- when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk.
"I wonder what food the package might contain?" The mouse asked himself. He was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.
Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning: "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"
The chicken clucked and scratched searching for food. Raising her head, she turned to the mouse and said, "Mr. Mouse,I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it."
The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"
The pig sympathized, but said, "I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers."
The mouse turned to the cow and said "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"
The cow said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose."
So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap alone.
That very night a sound was heard throughout the house. It was the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey.
The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see that it was a venomous snake whose tail was being held fast by the trap. The snake bit the farmer's wife.
The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever.
Now, everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient.
But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbours came to sit with her around the clock. In order to feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.
Still the farmer's wife did not get well. One day; she died. So many people came for her funeral that the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.
All the poor little mouse could do was look upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.
So, the next time you hear of someone who is facing a problem and think it
doesn't concern you, remember -- when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk.