Once upon a time, in a large red barn far into the outland, lived a country mouse. He lived a quiet life, keeping to himself, eating what seeds and stems he found and sleeping in a simple bed of hay. One day, the country mouse received a letter from his cousin in the city.
"Dear cousin," the letter read. "It has been far too long since we have seen each other last. I'll be leaving the city tomorrow to visit you! I expect that this letter should arrive a day before myself so that you can make preparations for my arrival."
The country mouse was ecstatic. He hadn't seen his city cousin in years! He set out gathering seeds, roots, leaves, and stems to prepare a feast for the city mouse.
The next day, the city mouse arrived at his country cousin's home. They exchanged hugs and greetings and soon were chatting like they had never spent time apart. After a time, the country mouse invited his cousin inside to see the feast he had prepared.
"What is this?" asked the city mouse.
"Why it's your feast!" replied his cousin.
"This? This is nothing but twigs and grass! Do you have no cheese or bread? No meats?" questioned the city mouse.
"I've never heard of such things. These seeds are some of the finest in the whole field!" said the country mouse with a frown.
"Oh cousin, how do you eat this trash? Soon I will have you come to visit me and the city and I will show you what real food is."
Soon the city mouse left to return to his city home, and his country cousin followed shortly after. When the country mouse arrived at his cousin's home, he was greeted by a fantastic smell.
"Come in, come in." said the city mouse.
Inside, the country mouse found something like he had never seen before: cakes, cheeses, breads and meats of every type. The two mice began devouring the cuisine before them.
"See cousin! Isn't this better than grass and sticks?" the city mouse asked.
The country mouse was about to agree with the city mouse when a large booming bark interrupted his thoughts.
"What was that?!" the country mouse asked, very startled.
"Ah, it's only the dogs of the house. You'll get used to it."
"Only!" shouted the country mouse.
With the country mouse's shout, the door flew open as two dogs stormed inside. Quickly, the two mice scurried away for safety.
"I'll be going now!" said the country mouse.
"Why? What's the problem cousin?" inquired the city mouse.
"I'd rather have sticks and leaves in peace than meats and cheeses in fear." retorted the country mouse.
Author's Note: This story is based on The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse from the Fables of Aesop by Joesph Jacobs. Web source. In the story the "town mouse" goes to visit his country cousin and is displeased with
the food, saying it can't compare to the great food that he eats in
town. However, when the "country mouse" goes to visit the town mouse, he
discovers that there are loud noises and dangerous animals, and returns to his country home.
Hello Cody, I really enjoyed your story this week! My favorite part about it is when the city mouse came over to the country mouse's house. I thought for sure that the city mouse would love the feast prepared for him, but he didn't. I starting thinking DUH! City mice don't eat sticks. They at least can get the good stuff. I also liked the ending of the story how the country mouse said that "I'd rather have sticks and leaves in peace than meats and cheeses in fear."
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your retelling of "The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse." I think this is one of my favorite tales from Aesop. I think it teaches a valuable lesson; we all want things and wish for bigger and better, more expensive, things. But what we all need to realize, difficult as it may be, that we should appreciate what we have and try to be contented with it. While you may gain more things, you will likely acquire more problems as well.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the way you made the city mouse a wee bit snobbish, turning his little whiskers and nose up at the feast the country mouse had prepared for him. And I agree wholeheartedly with the country mouse, I would rather eat sticks and grains in peace than to have meats and cheese and fear.
I look forward to seeing more stories from you!
Michele
What a great story Cody! The whole time I was reading this story I just kept thinking of little mice running around the streets of Paris like that Disney movie Ratatouille. I like your ending sentence of your story. I think it can easily be related to people who enjoy living in the country rather than the city because they would rather live outside the loud and noise city. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI really like what you did with this story and how you were able to retell it! I think that you did a good job of staying true to what the necessary elements were that made the original story the way it was but then you were also able to add in other elements to spice it up a bit and show off your creativity! Overall all great job!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your story, especially the fact that you kept the moral at the end, just like in the original fables. Your city mouse seems to think his way of life is better, and looks down on his country cousin, but the country mouse is able to see that safety can be better than leisure and good food.
ReplyDelete