THE RAT WITH A BELL

 THE RAT WITH A BELL 

A Fable 

A FINE old mansion in the country was infested by rats. The folk who lived in it, did not know how to get rid of them, until a sharp little lad hit upon this plan: he caught a rat, and then fastened a collar with a small bell round its neck.

The rat, when set free, ran into the nearest hole, and went in search of his companions. They heard at a distance the bell tinkle tinkle, through dark passages, and suspecting some enemy got among them, away they scoured, some one way, and some another. The bell-bearer pursued, and guessing the cause of their flight, he was amused at it .Wherever he went all was hurry- scurry, and not a tail of one of them was to be seen. He chased his old friends from hall to hall, and room to room, laughing all the while at their fears, increasing them by all the means in his power. Presently he had the whole house to himself. 'That is right,' said he: 'the fewer, the better the cheer,'- so he rioted alone among the good things and stuffed until he could hardly walk. 

For two or three days this course of life went on very pleasantly; but then he grew tired of this lonely life, and longed to mix with his companions again upon the former footing; but the difficulty was how to get rid of the bell. He pulled and tugged with his fore-feet, and almost wore the skin off his neck in the attempt, but all in vain. The bell was now his plague and torment. He wandered from room to room, earnestly desiring to make himself known to one of his companions, but they all kept out of his reach. At last, as he was moping sadly about, he fell in puss's way, and was killed and eaten very quickly.

He, who is raised so much above his fellow-creatures, as to be the object of their terror, must suffer for it in losing all the comforts of society. He is a solitary being in the midst of crowds. He keeps them at a distance, and they equally shun him. Fear and affection cannot live together.  

References:

1. Chatterbox No 15 New Series 1903 Weekly One Halfpenny