The Cat and the Mice
A certain house was overrun with Mice. A Cat, discovering this, made her
way into it and began to catch and eat them one by one. Fearing for their
lives, the Mice kept themselves close in their holes. The Cat was no longer
able to get at them and perceived that she must tempt them forth by some
device. For this purpose she jumped upon a peg, and suspending herself from
it, pretended to be dead. One of the Mice, peeping stealthily out, saw her
and said, "Ah, my good madam, even though you should turn into
a meal-bag, we will not come
near you."