Country Mouse served her cousin a simple supper of seeds and berries. Town Mouse thanked her but said the town had tastier food. They went to visit. At first the town table amazed Country Mouse with cakes and cheese. Then a door banged. The mice hid from people crossing the room. Country Mouse found it hard to enjoy food while feeling afraid. She returned to her peaceful field. Town Mouse stayed in the lively town he loved. The cousins kept visiting, but each preferred a different kind of home.
A First Stories tale
The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse
Slide left for a simpler telling and right for more detail. Your choice carries to the next story.
Open this version in the audiobook shelfCountry Mouse invited Town Mouse to eat in the meadow. They shared seeds and berries. Town Mouse invited her cousin to the town for a fancy meal. The food was lovely, but loud footsteps frightened them. Country Mouse went home to her quiet field. Town Mouse liked the busy town. They agreed that each could be happy in a different place.
Country Mouse served her cousin a simple supper of seeds and berries. Town Mouse thanked her but said the town had tastier food. They went to visit. At first the town table amazed Country Mouse with cakes and cheese. Then a door banged. The mice hid from people crossing the room. Country Mouse found it hard to enjoy food while feeling afraid. She returned to her peaceful field. Town Mouse stayed in the lively town he loved. The cousins kept visiting, but each preferred a different kind of home.
Town Mouse visited her cousin in the country. Country Mouse offered fresh berries, grain, and a quiet place under the hedgerow. Town Mouse liked the company but missed the rich food of town. “Come and see my home,” she said. Country Mouse accepted.
In town, the cousins found cheese and cakes left on a dining table. Country Mouse had never tasted such things. Just as she reached for more, a door opened and footsteps shook the floor. Both mice hid until the room was empty. A moment later, another noise sent them running again. Country Mouse decided the feast was not worth the fear. She thanked her cousin and returned to the hedgerow. Town Mouse understood, though she still enjoyed town life. They discovered that a good home is not the same for everyone.
When Town Mouse visited the country, her cousin prepared the best supper she could: ripe berries, grains, and a few nuts. The meal was small, but the evening was peaceful. Town Mouse missed the variety of foods she found in town. She invited Country Mouse to return with her and taste them.
The town house seemed grand. In its dining room lay crumbs of cake and pieces of cheese. Country Mouse was impressed. The cousins had barely begun when someone opened the door. They raced into a crack in the wall. After the footsteps passed, they tried again. A dog barked nearby, and once more they ran for cover.
Country Mouse put down her piece of cheese. She thanked her cousin for the invitation but said she could not relax there. At home, her plain meals came with open sky and familiar paths. Town Mouse enjoyed the energy of the town and knew its hiding places well. Neither tried to change the other's mind. Their visits continued, with each cousin choosing the setting in which she felt most at ease.
Town Mouse arrived in the country expecting little. Her cousin welcomed her with berries, grains, and fresh water beneath a hedge. The food was simple, but the conversation lasted until moonrise. Town Mouse admired the quiet and still insisted that her guest ought to see what a proper feast looked like. Country Mouse, curious, agreed to visit town.
The dining room held more kinds of food than Country Mouse had imagined: cheese, cake, and crumbs from a rich dinner. She reached for another bite when a door swung open. The cousins darted behind the skirting board as human feet crossed the room. They emerged, only to hear a dog bark nearby. Another scramble for shelter followed.
“How do you eat with all this happening?” Country Mouse asked. Town Mouse knew the building's safe corners and accepted the interruptions as part of life there. Country Mouse could not. She preferred a modest meal she could enjoy without watching every doorway.
The cousins parted affectionately. Town Mouse remained among the bright rooms and busy streets; Country Mouse returned to the open fields. Each recognized something to admire in the other's home, but neither needed to call that home her own. Comfort, they learned, includes the feeling of being safe enough to enjoy what you have.
Inspired by Aesop's Fables. This text is a new adaptation.