The City Mouse and the Country Mouse

Knock-knock! The country mouse ran towards the door excitedly. He was expecting his cousin from the city to come and visit.

“Hello, dear cousin,” he said, and gave his cousin a big hug and made him sit down at the laid table. “I’m so glad to see you! Come on in, let’s have dinner and you will tell me how life is treating you.”

“My dearest cousin, thank you for your warm welcome”, the city mouse said. He took a quick look at the neatly set table, which had only a few dry berries and a dozen walnuts on it. “Life seems to be treating me better than you. Come visit me and I will show you such an abundant feast that you will never want to come back to the country again.”

And so the next week the country mouse visited his cousin in the city. His cousin met him by a huge store of food; including fresh grapes, granola, bagels, nuts… The country mouse was astounded!

“Let’s have a real dinner now, dear cousin,” the city mouse said and was just about to tuck in, when a cat attacked the dinner table.

The two mice had to wait for the cat to take what he wanted and leave, before they could go back. “Phew! This was close! Things like this shouldn’t bother you too much, it’s part of city life,” said the host apologetically.

They tried again. This time they couldn’t even touch their food, because a dog ran towards them and the two cousins had to run for their lives again.

“Dear cousin, thank you for your hospitality! The table was indeed abundant, but we can never sit and dine properly. I’d rather go back to the country, where I can enjoy my dinner in peace.”