The Sad Tale of the Mindless Mice

Nine Mice

by Jack Prelutsky

Nine Mice on tiny tricycles 

went riding on the ice, 

they rode in spite of warning signs, 

they rode despite advice

The signs were right, the ice was thin, 

in half a trice, the mice fell in, 

and from their chin down to their toes 

those mice entirely froze.

Nine mindless mice, who paid the price, 

are thawing slowly by the ice 

still sitting on their tricycles 

…nine white and shiny micicles

etsy icicle micicles

Courtesy of Siddhant

The Sad Story of Little Bunny Foo Foo

Little bunny Foo Foo

Went hopping through the forest

Scooping up the field mice

And bopping them on the head

Down came the Good Fairy, and she said

"Little bunny Foo Foo

I don't want to see you

Scooping up the field mice

And bopping them on the head."

I'll give you 3 chances,

And if you don't behave, I will turn you into a goon!"

And the next day...

Little bunny Foo Foo

Went hopping through the forest

Scooping up the field mice

And bopping them on the head

Down came the Good Fairy, and she said

"Little bunny Foo Foo

I don't want to see you

Scooping up the field mice

And 'bopping them on the head."

I'll give you 2 more chances,

And if you don't behave, I will turn you into a goon!"

And the next day...

Little bunny Foo Foo

Went hopping through the forest

Scooping up the field mice

And bopping them on the head

Down came the Good Fairy, and she said

"Little bunny Foo Foo

I don't want to see you

Scooping up the field mice

And bopping them on the head."

I'll give you 1 more chance,

And if you don't behave, I will turn you into a goon!"

And the next day...

Little bunny Foo Foo

Went hopping through the forest

Scooping up the field mice

And bopping them on the head

Down came the Good Fairy, and she said

"Little bunny Foo Foo

I don't wanna to see you

Scooping up the field mice

And bopping them on the head.

I gave you three chances and you didn't behave so...."

POOF!  She turned him into a Goon.

 And the moral of the story is: 

Hare today, goon tomorrow.

 

Bunny Foo Foo (in Goon and Non-Goon incarnations) is available on etsy, along with all those field mice and good fairies.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/cornerstoregoddess

The Lion and the Mouse ~ a CHARMed Aesop's Fable

Once upon a time, a Lion was taking his daily 23 hour nap. 

A small Mouse, figuring the Lion was out for the rest of the day and possible acting on a bet made by the other mice, began to run up and down the length of the Lion.

Contrary to what the mice were thinking, this woke the Lion, who was none too pleased.  He smacked his large paw upon the Mouse and opened his jaws, ready to consume the Mouse as an hors d'oeuvre.

The Mouse thought fast, and spoke up.  "Pardon, O great wise and wonderful King," he said.  "Please forgive my intrusion this one time, and I shall never forget your kindness.  And who knows?  Perhaps, one day, I will be able to do a life-saving favor for you!"

The Lion thought that highly unlikely.  But he also thought that a Mouse, straight up, didn't make much of a snack.  And he was amused at the idea that a scrawny Mouse would one day we able to help him.  Having thought these deep thoughts, the Lion lifted his paw, releasing the Mouse, who scampered back to his friends.

Not a week had passed, however, before the Lion, during his daily one-hour hunt, found himself caught in a trap.  The hunters who caught him, determined to carry a live lion back to their King, tied him to a tree while they went in search of a wagon for their triumphant march home. 

Try as he might, the Lion could not get free, and was sure his hours were numbered.  Just then, who should appear but the little Mouse.  When he saw the dire situation of the Lion, he leaped onto the trap and began to gnaw at the ropes. He gnawed and gnawed and gnawed until he had freed the King of Beasts.

The Lion was overcome with gratitude.  The Mouse merely shrugged.  "Told you so," he said.

Moral: Little friends may prove great friends.

Secondary moral: Mice make unpleasant hors d'oeuvres.

The Lion and the Mouse can be found here.

Imagining

By Shel Silverstein

You’re only just imagining

A mouse is in your hair.

You’ve got to stop imagining

That mice are everywhere.

I think you’re just imagining

To give yourself a scare,

But trust me dear, I wouldn’t lie:

There is no mouse up there.

There are, however, mice here.

Three Nine Mice

Nine Mice


by Jack Prelutsky

Nine Mice on tiny tricycles

went riding on the ice,


they rode in spite of warning signs,


they rode despite advice
 The signs were right, 

the ice was thin,


in half a trice, 

the mice fell in,


and from their chin down to their toes

those mice entirely froze.



Nine mindless mice, who paid the price,


are thawing slowly by the ice


still sitting on their tricycles
...

nine white and shiny micicles

Micicles without icicles... Quite niceicles!

Not-So-Invisible Mouse

INVISIBLE BOY
And here we see the invisible boy
In his lovely invisible house,
Feeding a piece of invisible cheese
To a little invisible mouse.

Oh, what a beautiful picture to see!
Will you draw an invisible picture for me?"
~ Shel Silverstein

Here are some not-so-invisible mice. 

The Tale of Magpie Mouse

There was once a family of mice.  The oldest was Terence, who was very practical, and always looking for a better home for the mouse family.



Next came Clarence, who was always on the lookout for a tasty morsel or two or three.



Then there was Larry, who was a great planner.



And finally there was Magpie Mouse, also known as Maggie.



All summer long the mice prepared for the long winter ahead.  Terence was hoping to find a better location in a better neighborhood.  They had been living in a tennis ball all summer and frankly, it was beginning to smell.



So when Terence found a discarded loaf of bread, he was ecstatic and wasted no time shaping it into a new abode...



...which was, actually, quite spacious inside after Larry did some work on it.



Clarence harvested far and wide.  He gathered berries.



He collected seeds.



One day he brought home a soda can with plenty of water inside.



He even found a tiny wedge of cheese.



Larry checked all the items off on his Winter Preparedness list.  While everyone else was finding food and water and shelter, Maggie was busy, too.  Every day she collected.  She didn't bring food or bedding or a shelter.  But every day Maggie brought home a new treasure.

Soon the winds began to howl and the nights grew cold.  Snow fell and no longer could Clarence find morsels of food.  But they mice had plenty to eat.  Though it was cold, they were snug in their house.  And because Larry has carefully collected furnishings, they were comfortable.  But they weren't very happy.  They missed the sparkle of sunlight on the water.  They missed rainbows and sunbeams and drops of dew.  They began to wonder if they would ever see the beautifully sparkling world again.

That's when Maggie got busy.  She went into her private corner of the bread house and started to bring out her treasures: a bit of glass, a tiny heart of hematite, a crystal, some porcelain.  Her glass sparkled, the color of the sky.  Her crystals twinkled like dew on the morning grass.  Her stones were like the pebbles in a pond.




And finally Clarence and Terence and Larry understood that there was more to life than seeds and crumbs and a soft place to sleep.  There were also sparkly things to make every day brighter.



Their story, their bracelet.