Week 13, Story: The Brave LIttle Mouse

 

The Brave Little Mouse

There was once a small little mouse who was very timid. He trembled at anything. The other little mice would make fun of him and say he was useless because he was so weak and scared.

They would say," you are scared of your own shadow! You will never make it in this life. Perhaps in the next life you would not be so useless!" 

 One day as he was searching for food he came across a great lion fearlessly attacking a Buffalo. The mouse looked at this great creature with such admiration. He wished he could have just a bit of the courage this Lion had. Maybe if he did, he would be respected. This Mouse became so admired with this lion he would follow him when the  lion would find his prey. 

On a day when he was following this great creature, the lion sensed the presence of the small mouse. 

The Lion spoke with such force, " Step out of your hiding place and make yourself known." 

The Mouse began to tremble and thought this was surely his demise. He stepped out with his legs shaking and fell before the Lion. 

"What do you want?" the Lion asked. 

" Forgive me great  Lion, for I am just a small lowly Mouse that has been admiring your courage. Please, won't you let me follow you and learn to be brave like you. I will be your servant and maybe if I am able to be as great as you,  I can be respected. " The Mouse pleaded while still to the floor. 

The Lion thought this Mouse was amusing and laughed at the comparison. There was no way a small mouse could ever amount to the greatness of a true king. However, the lion saw an opportunity to use this small Mouses size as an advantage. 

The Lion then proposed to the mouse an arrangement that would benefit both of them. 

" Very well, you may follow and stay with me. Through this, you can admire me all you would like and I will provide you with protection.  However, I require you to go to the mountain top every morning to see if there are any elephants, buffalo, or ponies for me to eat. If you see any, you must come to me and say: " Great Lion, food is in sight. Come forth with your great might and feast upon your prey." 

So after that day, the mouse would go to the mountain top and examine the area for potential prey. He would do as the Lion commanded and this continued for several months. 

After observing the Lion for many months, the Mouse felt that he himself had gained great courage. He felt so brave that he wanted to try to overcome a great beast of his own. He thought to himself which creature he would want to overcome. 

" Of course! A great big elephant!" 

 He then approached the Lion with his plan and proposed, " great Lion, I feel like I now have learned much from you. I feel so brave and I want to prove it to you. Will you  go to the mountain and search for an Elephant? Then when you see one, you come to me and say great Mouse come forth with your might and kill the elephant. "

The  Lion laughed at this tiny mouse. 

" Mouse, Lions can only kill Elephants. There has never been a Mouse who has killed an Elephant and there will never be one. You are foolish to think so, Mouse. " 

The Lions discouragement did not sway the Mouses desire to prove himself. After many days of insisting the Lion agreed to the Mouses proposition. 

The day came when the Lion approached the Mouse and said," Great Mouse come forth with your might and Kill the Elephant on the mountain." 

The Mouse hearing this started his way up the mountain. During this, he felt the need to turn back many times but thought about how much of a fool he would be seen as if he returned that way.

As he reached the mountain top he saw the great Elephant. It was was such a massive creature and he was was so small. Once again, he felt the pressing need to go back but he did not. He gathered his strength and  without another thought he dashed in front of the great elephant. 

He stood tall on two legs and puffed out his tiny chest. The elephants eyes widened and it let out a loud trumpet! The elephant lifted his front legs and lost it's balance. Because of this, the elephant tripped and tumbled down the mountain. When the Mouse reached the elephant at the bottom of the mountain he found it to be dead and the Lion stood before it with a surprised look. 

From that day, the mouse gained the respect of the great lion and of his fellow mice. He was known as the brave mouse who conquers elephants. He lived his days fearlessly and courageously till the very end. 

Elephant and Mouse

Bibliography: Source 

More Jakata Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt, The Foolhardy Wolf.

Author's Note: This Story was inpired by one of the stores from the Jakata Tales. The story, The Foolhardy wolf, is about a wolf who reaches an agreement with a Lion. The agreement was that the wolf would go to the mountain top to search for prey in exchange for a portion of the meat. At the end the wolf thinks he is strong enough to take an elephant but ends up being trampled. I decided to use a timid mouse and give him a happy ending. I hope you enjoy reading my rendition!