44 THE FINE PLAN

Once some mice lived in a big house.

They ran all over the house.

Patter, patter, patter, went their feet!

The house was full of mice.

A cat lived in the big house, too.

He was a big cat.

He liked to catch the mice.

He caught some every day.

The mice were afraid of him.

They said, “What shall we do?

This big cat will catch us all.

He will eat us up.

Oh, what shall we do? ”

“I know what to do, ”said a little mouse.

“The cat makes no noise when he walks.

We can not hear him.

I have a fine plan.

We must hang a bell on his neck!

The bell will make a noise.

Ting-a-ling! Ting-a-ling! It will go.

We shall hear the bell.

Then we shall know that the cat is coming.

We will run away.

The cat can not catch us.”

“What a fine plan! ”said the other mice.

“Yes! Yes! The cat must have a bell on his neck!

Then he can not catch us.”

The mice jumped for joy.

The little mouse was very proud.

“How wise I am! ”he said.

“Now we shall be safe.”

But Old Gray Mouse laughed.

He was wiser than the little mouse.

“Ha, ha! ”he laughed, “ha, ha, ha!

That is a fine plan, little mouse.

But who will hang the bell on the cat?

Will you, little mouse? ”

“Oh, no, no! He would eat me up! ”

But someone must put the bell on the cat!

The little mouse had not thought of that.

He ran away as fast as he could go.

He cried “Squeak! Squeak! ”all the way home.

(Retold from a Fable by Æsop)

Word list

patter: the soft sound of small feet

joy: happiness

You Practice

A) Answer the following questions.

1) What problem did the mice have in this story?

2) What fine plan did the little mice have?

3) What was the problem with the mice's fine plan?

4) What can we learn from this story?

5) What advice would you give the mice on how not to be caught by the cat?

B) Opposites—Find the opposites to these words in the story.

1) empty: f _ _ _

2) stupid: w _ _ _

3) slowly: f _ _ _

4) drink: e _ _

5) in danger: s _ _ _

C) True or false? Read these sentences carefully, write true or false for each one.

1) ____ The mice's fine plan worked very well.

2) ____ The mice didn't know how to put a bell on the cat's neck.

3) ____ The cat caught the mice.

4) ____ The Old Gray Mouse laughed at the plan.

5) ____ The Old Gray Mouse was caught by the cat.