After the meal, the two mice talked late into the night about their different lives. The town mouse was intrigued by his brother’s descriptions of gardens and fields overflowing with mouthwatering snacks. Before going to bed, the town mouse agreed to follow his brother back to his home the next morning so he could experience the sensations of this place. In his sleep he dreamed about being in the country indulging in its pleasures.
Upon arriving, the town mouse was shown a land even more remarkable than what he had dreamed of. Gardens full of ripe vegetables and fields of sweet corn reached as far as the eye could see. For a brief moment the town mouse thought that he was in heaven.
The mice began to feast on a tomato when a fox came trotting by and spotted them. They dashed into the cornfield with the fox chasing after them. They managed to dive behind a corn stalk as the fox ran by and lost them. They laid completely still with faces in the dirt until they were sure the fox was no longer around.
The country mouse began climbing one of the corn stalks to show the town mouse how to get the corn. He reached the top and began to peel the husk back as a hawk swooped down and snatched him up. The hawk carried him away as the town mouse watched in disbelief. The town mouse raced home realizing that all the food in the world was not worth the constant threat of death.
Illustration by Arthur Rackham (London, 1912).
Author's Note. In the original fable the roles are reversed from those in my story. The town mouse visits the country mouse to find his food boring and bland. The town mouse then embellishes his home life so that the country mouse follows him home the next day. The country mouse finds that dangers, including a cat, a dog, and humans, are not worth the feast at hand. He returns home content with his simple but safe life in the country.
Bibliography. This story is based on the fable "The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse" in The Aesop for Children, published by Rand McNally & Company (1919).
I like how you were able to flip the roles of the mice and still keep the essence of the story. I honestly think that I may like the way you flipped it better than the original. The freshly grown food is always better in reality anyway. As a note, you have the entire url for your picture's source on there. If you click on link there is a way to write something else to describe your picture for the readers to click on to bring them to your source. It just helps it look less cluttered. Good job though! I am excited to read other stories here on your blog this semester!
ReplyDeleteHi, Taler.
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you reversed the roles of the two mice. I feel like this is a pretty familiar story, and your take kept it recognizable, but different enough to make it exciting. Your reversal is also really believable. You definitely can’t blame the town mouse for running for his life! Your narrative flows really well, and both characters are likeable. Nicely done!
I would like to start with saying your story made me hungry. Secondly, I feel for the country mouse. He was just trying to show his follow brethren how to obtain corn, yet (I assume) lost his life in the process. I admire/respect his willingness to brave the dangers in the name of good food though. I am looking forward to reading more stories of yours in the future.
ReplyDeleteHi Taler. I enjoyed reading your story about mice. I think the picture you picked for this post is perfect for the story because of the way the two mice look in it. I also really liked the ending of your story because the town mouse got to explore new things but end the end realized that the grass is not always greener on the other side. I saw that in one part of your story the mice stuck their heads in the dirt like an ostrich. Do they actually do that in real life? Sounds like it might look funny. One thing I would suggest for this story is giving each of the mice a name so that the reader can relate better with each of the characters. Other than that I thought it was a fantastic story and I hope to read more stories from your blog in the future.
ReplyDelete