Week 3 Story: Mice Tales

 Tales of Muris the Mouse

Story 1: Belling the Cat

Once there was a peculiar young mouse named Muris. He was not overly smart, nor was he overly brave; but, upon occasion, he did have the most exemplary moments of any tiny mouse's life. The first of these happened when he was quite young. You see, the mice of the farm had congregated in the back of the storeroom to discuss the threat the Cat posed to the community at large. The mice crowded near the burst case of strawberries and were nibbling at them as they presented one idea after another on how to handle the issue. Some less-than-brilliant mice recommended making a large mouse trap with which to catch the Cat, though this was disregarded for none of the mice knew how to make the trap. Another, even more foolhardy, recommended negotiating with the Cat; luckily the elders put an end to that very quickly. At last young Muris stepped forward and presented his own idea: to put a bell around the Cat's neck! 

The mice cheered at the idea, for brilliant it was. With a bell on its neck, the mice would be able to hear the Cat coming from afar and flee before it arrived. Muris also volunteered to be the one to place the bell himself and committed to doing it the very same evening. The elders cautioned him about the teeth and claws of the Cat for the rest of the evening and, prepared for the adventure, Muris set off to the barn. He snuck inside quickly and quietly, reaching the sleeping Cat mere minutes after leaving the mice. He slyly slunk up the Cat and deftly tied to bell to the collar. With a small breath of relief, Muris set back to the mice, where they prepared to accept their new hero.

Story 2: The Country Mouse and the City Mouse 

The second tale of Muris was some time later when one of his cousins, Mus, came to visit from the nearby city. The cousin and his family had fled from the tyranny of the Cat some months prior, but that situation had been solved now. When Mus arrived, Muris welcomed him to his hole in the wall and presented him with the finest feast he could muster. Muris lay the choicest bits of bacon, beans, and butter before his city-dwelling cousin. Though, much to Muris's surprise, Mus refused to eat any of the mean country fare. Instead, he claimed that city fare was far superior and he would take Muris into the city so he could enjoy what real food tasted like. Dubious and somewhat offended, Muris agreed to accompany Mus to the city because he was family. 

When they arrived the next day, Mus took Muris into the back room of a fine restaurant where they commenced feasting on the fine fare. They ate scraps of sweet meats, chocolate desserts, and decadent cheese to their hearts content. As they finished, they heard a scratching and snuffling at the door. When Muris inquired to Mus about the sounds, he answered it was the large guard dogs owned by the restaurant to chase mice away. At that moment, the dogs burst in and the tow mice fled in terror! While Mus fled deeper into the city, Muris fled back to the country and vowed never again to go into the city full of such beasts again.

Story 3: The Lion and the Mouse

The third tale of Muris happened directly after the second. While fleeing, Muris payed not attention to the path before him and ran along the spine of a slumbering Lion. With a start, the Lion pounced and pinned poor Muris. The Lion was not overly hungry and, luckily for Muris, agreed to release the mouse after his intense pleading for his life. The Lion did so more because he did want to have to bother with such a small morsel, but Muris promised the Lion a favor if ever they should cross paths again. Neither thoughts the opportunity would arise until a chance encounter put them in one another's path the very next day.

Muris was roaming the edges of the berry fields near his farm when he heard a very unlionlike mewling from the nearby forest. Curious, Muris entered the wood and found the very same Lion tied in a net at the base of a tall oak tree. Muris saw his opportunity to even his debt and chewed the Lion free from his bonds. In extreme gratitude, the Lion thanked the mouse for his kindness and promised that he would be rewarded for his actions.

Story 4: The Married Mouse

The final tale of Muris is a sad and tragic end to the little fellow. The Lion he had saved proved extremely gracious as he gave Muris his sister as a wife. How anyone thought that this marriage would end well is still a mystery, but all involved were excited with the arranged marriage and took it willingly. However, mere hours after the vows had been spoken and the newly wed couple arrive at their new home, poor Muris got in the way of his much larger wife. When trying to open the door for the Lioness, she stepped on him. Unfortunately, Muris died quite suddenly and did not experience the joys of his odd marriage, but such is often the way with folktales. 

Author's Note

This collection of stories was based of many disparate mice tales from Aesop which featured different mice in each tale. I sought to bring all of the tales together by creating a singular heroic mouse for the stories to follow. There was one slight problem, however; the different mice had vastly different personalities in the tales. As such, I had to standardize the character somewhat to a middling mouse who is neither overtly heroic or cowardly. For example, the first tale originally ended with no mouse being brave enough to tie the bell to the Cat. Additionally, the Lion from the third story has no ties to the fourth, but I married the two tales to add greater continuity.

Image Source: Snappy Goat 

Story Source: Aesop's Fables by Jacobs