School Radio
Aesop’s Fables
35. BELLING THE CAT That night the new cat prowled the farm-
yard. She walked silently in the darkness;
invisible in her black coat. She watched
By Rob John
and she waited; listening for the tiniest
The mice who lived on a farm were very sound.
happy because the farmer’s cat, which
was supposed to hunt and kill mice, was In the morning when the mice met for
old and lazy and spent most of his time breakfast in the barn there didn’t seem to
sleeping in the sunshine. be quite so many of them.
‘Can’t be bothered with catching mice any ‘Where is everyone this morning?’ said
more,’ said the old cat. ‘All that lurking the young mouse.
about and pouncing. Got better things to
do...like sleeping.’ ‘I wonder,’ said the old mouse looking at
the new cat who was sitting outside the
So the mice ran about safely all over the farmhouse with a big smile on her face.
farm and had plenty to eat...until one day
an awful thing happened. Each night more mice disappeared...and
the new cat seemed to be getting fatter.
The farmer came into the farmyard
carrying a wooden box. He put it on the Soon the mice were really scared.
floor and...out of the box walked a cat; a
new young cat with black sleek fur and Finally the old mouse called a meeting.
long sharp claws. The cat looked around ‘We have to do something,’ he said. ‘If we
the farmyard and she sniffed the air. can’t get rid of this cat she’ll end up eating
us all. We need a plan. The problem,’ said
‘Huh, she’s nothing to be scared of,’ said the old mouse, ‘is that you can’t hear the
a young mouse. ‘She’s only a cat. Only a cat coming. She moves silently in the
lazy old cat.’ darkness. You don’t know she’s there...
until it’s too late.’
But an old mouse wasn’t so sure. The
new cat didn’t look old...or lazy. This cat
looked young and keen and...hungry.
‘Just be careful,’ said the old mouse. ‘Just
keep your eyes open and be very careful.’
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School Radio
‘That’s it!’ said the young mouse. ‘We get
a bell and tie it round the cat’s neck. The
bell will ring every time the cat moves and
we’ll know where she is so she’ll never
catch us.’
The mice all looked at each other. ‘Not
bad,’ said someone.
‘Actually, that’s brilliant!’ said someone
else.
The mice leapt into action. One group
found a little bell that had fallen off the
back of the farmhouse door and another
found some string which had been holding
up a scarecrow’s trousers.
‘See,’ said the young mouse. ‘We have
everything we need for my brilliant plan.
That cat has eaten her last mouse. All our
troubles are over.’
The mice all cheered and patted the young
mice on the back. The young mouse had
saved everyone from being eaten and
suddenly he was a hero...for about ten
seconds. ‘Just one question,’ said the old
mouse. ‘Who’s going to tie the bell on the
cat?’
The mice all went silent, then looked at
the young mouse. The young mouse
looked at the floor. He didn’t want that job.
Nobody wanted that job.
‘Oh dear,’ said the old mouse. ‘It’s easy to
say something but often harder to actu-
ally do it.’
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