The Cat and the Mice

A CERTAIN HOUSE was overrun with Mice.  A Cat, discovering this,
made her way into it and began to catch and eat them one by one.
Fearing for their lives, the Mice kept themselves close in their
holes.  The Cat was no longer able to get at them and perceived
that she must tempt¹ them forth² by some device.  For this purpose
she jumped upon a peg³, and suspending herself from it, pretended
to be dead.  One of the Mice, peeping stealthily out, saw her and
said, "Ah, my good madam, even though you should turn into a
meal-bag, we will not come near you."


He who is once deceived is doubly cautious