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The mouse trap

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. “What food might this contain?” the mouse wondered. He was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning: “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, “Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it.”

The mouse turned to the pig and told him, “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!” The pig sympathized, but said, “I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers.”

The mouse turned to the cow and said, “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!” The cow said, “Wow, Mr. Mouse. I’m sorry for you, but it’s no skin off my nose.”

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer’s mousetrap alone.

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house – like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer’s wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital and she returned home with a fever.

Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient. But his wife’s sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. The farmer’s wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.

The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness. So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn’t concern you, remember, when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk. We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another. Each of us is a vital thread in another person’s tapestry.

Author Unknown

{ 63 comments… add one }
  • Roselyne February 13, 2024, 4:45 am

    Great story. I use it for team motivation and making sure all departments in the organization are involved.

  • Amen November 4, 2022, 10:58 am

    Interesting.

  • David April 13, 2021, 1:20 pm

    My Cajun grandma told me this story when I was quite young.

  • Lea Tagulao June 27, 2020, 5:33 am

    Simple but very striking story . Sometimes people tend to be too busy n self centered . Concerned for others are forgotten . We should make a difference in one’s life . If
    People will show kindness n love to evryone. I love the story .

  • Gargi @@ December 17, 2018, 5:35 am

    The story shows great moral

  • Duchess C. October 10, 2017, 3:43 am

    I learned something great in this story..

  • Kheks August 4, 2015, 12:20 pm

    Nice…

  • Sagar More July 30, 2014, 3:16 am

    It’s very beautiful story;
    Short, Sweet and Inspiring!!!

  • Mahamed ahmed July 21, 2014, 7:50 pm

    The story showing the important of interconect of comunity to solve their problems thanks alot for the blog owner it is realy streem of wisdom keep on

  • Devendra srivastava June 17, 2014, 7:12 am

    Worth reading story. It teaches us to share the problem of others!!

  • Ema May 28, 2014, 4:14 pm

    Excellent story true.

  • AGWELL ZULU May 13, 2014, 9:41 am

    That story is very good GOD be we’ve you people

  • Rhea Vaness M. Reorizo February 6, 2014, 9:17 am

    That’s a very good story. We can all relate on that. There’s a great value that we can get.

  • A Thomasa November 15, 2013, 6:47 am

    An eye opener. It is a lashing to stupid people who live for themselves with the selfish principle, “Not my circus, not my monkeys.”

  • Sakthi September 18, 2013, 12:15 am

    Nice story

  • Santosh August 24, 2013, 11:53 am

    Very nice story .. ;- )

  • Manasi August 15, 2013, 3:53 pm

    Nice story

  • Renzil July 3, 2013, 2:34 pm

    So true. ! 🙂

  • Joyce June 28, 2013, 11:26 pm

    Love this story. Using it in a message I have to deliver on love.

  • Biju June 7, 2013, 5:36 pm

    Good story…. Now a days no one is thinking about others in life. Everyone is selfish about their lives…. We must treat others with brotherhood…

  • Norma Pendleton June 2, 2013, 2:39 am

    Shared this with my coworkers in the office.

  • Wahid May 15, 2013, 5:17 pm

    Very, very good.

  • Chandu May 8, 2013, 12:54 pm

    Excellent story, based on humanity principle… everyone should try to implement this moral in their life.

  • Dima March 31, 2013, 8:31 pm

    I was so impressed by this story, I would like to illustrate it and post on Amazon. Who is the writer?

  • Judith January 23, 2013, 8:34 am

    It’s always good to look out for other peoples interests and not just our own.

  • Sahithi January 22, 2013, 1:00 pm

    Nice and interisting story which gives a good moral.

  • Samia January 13, 2013, 1:06 am

    I love reading stories.

  • Gracious December 15, 2012, 2:23 am

    Yea, that’s true, we are all moving in the same life journey, don’t be selfish, help others.

  • Mark December 12, 2012, 11:55 pm

    Lesson learned…we should give help to others who are in need to the best of our effort we can give.

  • Rarr May 10, 2012, 5:09 pm

    Ahaha everyone seems to have a convenient misunderstanding about this story. The moral is still “helping others,” but it’s more complex than that…

    If the animals are smart enough to know what a mousetrap is, surely they would know they’re being raised to eventually be eaten. That selfish mouse never once offered to help them out of their predicaments, and only wanted his own wish fulfilled. But even if he actually decided to help the others, they broke into the house, and the mousetrap (for argument’s sake: the only one in existence) was destroyed, guess what? The snake would’ve eaten the mouse! How’s that for irony?

    Maybe they should have all been less complacent and done something to better themselves. Even then, it would hinge on the mouse, as the only free creature. Maybe it’s just too hard to be proactive…

  • Smita April 23, 2012, 5:40 am

    Very nice story.

  • Gaurav_Luthra December 14, 2011, 12:25 am

    Try to help everybody, definately when you will be in need, some1 like you will surely help you…
    Gr8 story for making people understand the true fact! Thnx!

  • Clark December 9, 2011, 9:51 pm

    Amazing story.. it gives a ot of moral values to those who read this one of a kind story.

  • Prof Dan November 21, 2011, 9:06 am

    Great monumental moral story. Infact it’s a life teaching one, thanks.

  • Priyanka Kumari September 9, 2011, 3:58 am

    we all are connected directly or indirecttly

  • Pooja September 7, 2011, 1:54 am

    Wow that was very wonderful at the same time very meaningful too.

  • Stammer24 September 6, 2011, 8:03 pm

    Pretty cool story! Yeah!

  • Rojit Naorem August 2, 2011, 6:49 am

    The story reveals the real attitude of the present mankind. Unless such chicken-pig-cow mentality is changed, we are on the verge of extinction.

  • ITUMELENG STEPHEN July 9, 2011, 1:05 pm

    This story just emphasized the point that we are all one, breathing the same air, make the same stuff. If one of us is threatened, we all are threatened. Wow.

  • naveen June 13, 2011, 7:40 am

    It’s a short and awesome story….

  • Neeranjan April 24, 2011, 2:45 am

    It is a very moralful story.

  • yan siak April 18, 2011, 10:12 pm

    good story

  • richie advincula April 6, 2011, 7:28 am

    thats a very good story.

    love one another

  • vinod kumar singh March 18, 2011, 1:10 pm

    thoughtful story

  • Seshu March 16, 2011, 4:42 am

    Good one.

  • revati March 4, 2011, 10:15 am

    Lovely story. I liked it a lot, gives good morals.

  • Turola February 10, 2011, 3:28 pm

    What a great lesson.

  • Glenn Miller December 31, 2010, 10:45 pm

    Seeing the comments made by different people on the same story, reminds me of a similar story that being the story of the blind men and the elephant, each interpreting their own view on the same thing differently.

  • Gaurav Kumar December 17, 2010, 11:34 am

    A mouse looked through……………………….:):):)):):)

  • Monali December 15, 2010, 5:59 am

    Great story.

  • Fiyinsola November 24, 2010, 1:28 pm

    OMG!

  • Rakesh November 1, 2010, 7:37 pm

    Nice story given by a nice Person..Contain good Moral..

  • Sav August 25, 2010, 4:44 pm

    I read this to my kids. They really liked it especially its moral. However from my past personal experience I can say that one shouldn’t trust anybody for pretending s/he is going get help after being helpful to others. Favours may most often not be returned in life unless you know throughly the people you’re helping.

  • Anuj Banka August 14, 2010, 12:32 am

    Nice story showing the truth of life.

  • Bella August 3, 2010, 12:44 pm

    Hey Rikki, is that story – u know the one u said abt “Am I My Brother’s Keeper”? the same one in chicken soup?

  • Rikki July 29, 2010, 7:44 am

    Great Story! I used it to drive a point home for my Toastmasters project on the “Moral of the Story”. I also, coincide it with Gen 4:9 “Am I My Brother’s Keeper”? The group loved the it!

  • Gopi July 17, 2010, 1:38 am

    Help other and get help from others.

  • Adil Khan June 10, 2010, 9:55 pm

    Very powerful moral lesson for the human beings. We are so selfish that we are only concerned about our own life tat we do not try to do the exta step that can do a lot of good to others withut us having to lose anything.

  • Vishakha May 21, 2010, 10:43 pm

    Nice story very smiple story but gives the bigest moral of life thats always help others because one day you may also need others help.

  • Amala April 29, 2010, 10:51 am

    It’s a fantastic story…and very true

  • Nalini April 12, 2010, 1:39 pm

    It is a thought provoking story.

  • Billy Bob February 25, 2010, 11:49 am

    GOOD STORY!

  • Revathi February 18, 2010, 11:11 pm

    Very nice story. It gives us a good moral of life.

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