The Hungry Mouses

There  lived  a  mouse  that  was  hungry.  For  many  days.  She  could  find  no  food  at  all.  She  looked  here  and  there,  but  found  no  food.  Hence  she  grew  thin.  One  day  the  mouse  found  a  basket  full  of  corn.  There  was  a  small  hole  in  the  basket.  She  went  inside  and  began  to  eat  the  corn  greedily.  As  she  was  very  hungry,  she  went  eating  and  eating.  Now  she  had  grown  very  fat.  After  the  meal,  the  mouse  tried  to  come  out  of  the  basket.  She  could  not  now.  She  was  too  fat  to  pass  through  the  hole.  She  said,  how  shall  I  come  out?  Just  then  a  rat  came  along  and  he  heard  the  mouse.  The  rat  said,  Mouse,  if  you  want  to  come  out  of  the  basket  you  must  wait  till  you  have  grown  as  thin  were  when  you  went  in.