The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse

    once upon a time a country mouse invited his cousin，a townmouse，to stay with him for a few days．The country mouse lived alone under a hedge in the corner of afield．His straw－lined home was dry and warm and he lived there simply and safely from one year to the next．When the town mouse came to visit，the country mouse made a great fuss of him．He gave him the best straw to sleep on and fed him with all the choicest things in his larder 1．There were grains of wheat and barley，walnuts，cheese rinds and even little withered 2 red apples that he had managed to carry home from the orchard 3．The elegant town mouse did not seem to be impressed by all these good things．He looked as if he hardly liked to sit down and only nibbled 4 disdainfully at the food the country mouse put before him．As the evening drew on he grew more and more restless until at last he said：

    “My dear mouse，how can you bear this plain，dull life？Nothing ever happens here，does it？You should see the place I come from．There is always something going on there．The streets are full of people and the food！You don't have to work your life away scrimping and saving and scavenging to find the next crust．Why，food is just lying around for the taking in my town．A mouse，you know，does not live forever．Come with me and see what life is while you can．”

    The country mouse was impressed by the town mouse's word sand after a little more Persuasion 5 he agreed to go with him．It was dark when they arrived at the town mouse's home and as the doors and windows were closed they had to scuttle 6 in through a hole in the wall．The town mouse led the way to the dining room．The country mouse gazed around in wonder．There were thick carpets on the floor and thick velvet 7 curtains at the windows．In the middle of the room was a table，covered with a White cloth and with food of everykind A great banquet had been held there earlier in the evening and nothing had been cleared away Dishes of turkey and joints 8 of bee flay 9 side by side with bowls of trifle，jugs of cream and wedges of the best French cheese Loaves of crusty bread and half－empty flagons of wine were scattered 10 around．The country mouse stood and stared．“Come on，country boy，”cried the town mouse and in a moment they were both scrambling 11 to the table top The country mouse did not know where to begin，but the town mouse guided him easily around，bringing him all the best tit－bits and urging him to try more and more different dishes．“Oh my God．”said the country mouse．“This is really…”Before he could finish his sentence the door of the room burst open and a crowd of laughing，noisy people came tumbling in to finish off the feast．The two mice jumped off the table in fright and hid themselves in the first corner they could reach．The country mouse was too terrified to look up．Even the self－confident town mouse was shivering with alarm After what seemed like hours the room grew quiet again and the mice crept cautiously towards the table．They had scarcely started to eat again when something even more frightening happened．A cat came creeping through the open door and darted 12 towards the table The two mice managed to run be－hind a cupboard just as she sprang up to pounce 13 on them．AS soon as it was a quiet again the country mouse said：“I've had enough of this town，and I still want to live the rest of my life．Good－bye，cousin．The food may be rich and plentiful 14 but it is not for me．I would rather live my dull life in peace than run these risks for my dinner．”

    With that he ran out of the house as fast as he could，back to his comfortable country life．For some people a safe，dull life is better than a rich，dangerous one．Exercises：

    回答下列问题：

    ① What were their lives like？ Whose life is better？

    ② Why did the country mouse agree to go with the town mouse？

    ③ What was the town mouse's dining－room like？

    ④ What made the country mouse decide to leave the town？