The Aesop for Children by Milo Winter
The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse
A Town Mouse once visited a
relative who lived in the country.
For lunch the Country Mouse
served wheat stalks, roots, and
acorns, with a dash of cold water
for drink. The Town Mouse ate
very sparingly, nibbling a little
of this and a little of that, and
by her manner making it very
plain that she ate the simple
food only to be polite.
![[Illustration]](http://www.gatewaytotheclassics.com/gold/books/winter/aesop/winter_aesop_zpage018.gif)
After the meal the friends had
a long talk, or rather the Town
Mouse talked about her life in the
city while the Country Mouse
listened. They then went to bed
in a cozy nest in the hedgerow
and slept in quiet and comfort
until morning. In her sleep the
Country Mouse dreamed she was
a Town Mouse with all the luxuries and delights of city life that
her friend had described for her.
So the next day when the Town
Mouse asked the Country Mouse
to go home with her to the city,
she gladly said yes.
When they reached the mansion in which the Town Mouse
lived, they found on the table in
the dining room the leavings of
a very fine banquet. There were
sweetmeats and jellies, pastries,
delicious cheeses, indeed, the most
tempting foods that a Mouse can
imagine. But just as the Country Mouse was about to nibble a
dainty bit of pastry, she heard
a Cat mew loudly and scratch
at the door. In great fear the
Mice scurried to a hiding place,
where they lay quite still for a
long time, hardly daring to
breathe. When at last they ventured back to the feast, the door
opened suddenly and in came
the servants to clear the table,
followed by the House Dog.
![[Illustration]](http://www.gatewaytotheclassics.com/gold/books/winter/aesop/winter_aesop_zpage019.gif)
The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse
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The Country Mouse stopped
in the Town Mouse's den only
long enough to pick up her carpet bag and umbrella.
"You may have luxuries and
dainties that I have not," she
said as she hurried away, "but I
prefer my plain food and simple
life in the country with the peace
and security that go with it."
Poverty with security is better than plenty in the midst of
fear and uncertainty.
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