Mouse Story

[Ferre]

I don't often post stuff which I find in my mailbox, but this one I like to share;

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package.

"What food might this contain?" the mouse wondered. 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, raised her head 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 -- like 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 it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught.
The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital
and she returned home with a fever.

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 neighbors came to sit with her around the clock.

To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.

The farmer's wife did not get well; she died.

So many people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.
The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.
And so, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn't concern you, remember -- when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk.

[Cricket]

What an awesome story!

[Domestic Diva]

What a clever way to teach a great lesson! Thanks for sharing, Ferre.

[nks]

But sometime life is just like that. There is certain limitation in which one could do, but not everything.

Well, unless you expect the cow, pig or chicken to go and step on the mouse-trap and have their hoofs or or neck trapped by the mouse-trap.

The story is just about the same experience I had this morning. I had a stranger approaching me to ask for $8. Hmm... how true can that be? But, I suppose we could never always be trusting, but only to give the benefit of the doubt.

[Tinien]

a kind of tastelessness

[StrongInTheArm]

Bloody carnivores.

Of course we should help those in need.

One cold night there was a knock at our door. It was a neighbour's son who had been walking his dog but was locked out. His parents were at some friends some distance away. He said he wanted to take a cab to join them and asked if I would mind lending him £10.

We didn't recognise him, but thought this not too unusual since he lived a few doors down. He promised to return the money in the morning. Even though I was a little suspicious I gave him the money. I guess it was one of those rare moments of feeling charitable for me.

In the morning while talking to another neighbour I find out that some con artist was going around ...

The moral of this story, don't believe everyone that comes knocking at your door.

[livecoder]

Appreciate your story.Really wonderful piece of writing.

[Cryxellis]

Originally Posted by Domestic Diva

What a clever way to teach a great lesson! Thanks for sharing, Ferre.

Yeah, very clever...

[Sheen91]

Originally Posted by Tinien

a kind of tastelessness

What a bitter comment!

[Rankenstein]

One night I was walking home to my old house, minding my own business. Winter was drawing in so it was dark and chilly, snow was on the ground as I recall. As I ambled along I was approached by a young man, maybe 20-ish, who extremely politely asked if I could spare five pounds. He said he needed it for travelling, but I could tell he was down-and-out and most likely would spend it on a bag of chips, booze or tobacco - much the same as you or I would, in fact.

Now, when I say 'extremely politely', I mean I was bowled over by his courtesy - it wasn't fawning, mark me - and I didn't really hesitate, even though deep-down I knew he was probably fibbing for profit. I even said to him 'Spend it on what you like.'

So, the next day, I saw him again in much the same place, and what a transformation! Gone was the polite young man who'd actually charmed me the previous evening, and in his place was a foul-mouthed sot ranting at some poor woman who hadn't given him money. Then he fixes his focus on me, without any semblance of recognition, and starts to ask for money again.

So I go straight up to him up and say
'Hey! You! I gave you money yesterday, right here last night, which you said was for traveling, and yet here you are drunk shouting at people."
And he said "Sorry! Sorry!"
So I said
"That's not the point. The point is that last night you were charming and polite and a pleasure to meet. I said you could spend it on whatever, and I meant it. And here you are now gobbing off at some poor woman. The guy I met yesterday was cool. Sort your act out." Then I went home.

The moral is that my charity turned a polite well-spoken lad into a foul-mouthed annoyance.

What can you do?

[StrongInTheArm]

At the end of the day you cannot know if you are really helping, all you can do is what you think is best at the time.

[D3n!ss3_gÜrL]

haha awesome one!

[Skinny]

Nice stories. Both have great lessons.

Skinny

[mothproof]

wow.

(don't be alarmed by the small caps. i mean it with all greatness

[ewomack]

Great story, Ferre!

[livecoder]

Again a good one