Hare and Mouse - Story

By Shireen Senadhira

Once there was a furry hare hurrying through the Habarana forest. He was looking for some corn for dinner. He was so hungry that he did not hear the frogs croaking in the pond or the sound of the crickets. On the forest track, he met a mouse crossing his path.

"Hello mouse, how are you today?" The hare asked.
The mouse replied, "I am fine How about you?"
"I am fine too but I am so, so hungry, I can eat a cornfield."
The mouse was
surprised, he asked, "Is there a cornfield nearby?"
"Yes, just round the corner, didn't you know that?"
"Not at all, will you please take me with you?"
"OK."
"Then, let's go," said the mouse.

So off they went. They had to cross a small bridge and soon reached the cornfield. The mouse was amazed to see juicy corncobs nearly falling off their stalks. They had a good time eating the juicy corncobs. Then suddenly they heard barking. A dog had seen them eating the corn and was trying to chase them away. Hearing the dog bark loudly the farmer came out of his house. He wanted to see why his dog was barking. When the two friends saw the farmer they got really frightened. They ran behind some trees. The farmer looked around and saw nothing. So, he went back to his house. Then the two friends came out and started eating the corn again. The dog came out and started barking at them.

"Why are you eating my master's corn?" asked the dog angrily.
"How do we know it's your master's corn, I am having my dinner and so is the mouse."
"No," said the dog, "you can't eat my master's corn."
"What should we eat then," asked the hare.
The dog thought for awhile. Then, he turned to the hare and said, "Do you like cabbage?"
"Of course, I like
cabbage."
"So," said the dog, "there's a lot of cabbage that no one wants and you can have the cabbage."
The mouse quickly said, "I don't like cabbage." The dog asked, "Do you like bread and butter?"
"Yes, very much," replied the mouse.
"You are lucky, we have sandwiches that nobody wants," said the dog.

So the dog took the hare and mouse to the shed behind the farmer's house. There were lots of cabbage in one corner and some left over sandwiches on a table.

The hare and mouse had a feast. When they were full, they said "thank you" to the dog and started to go back home. On their way back, they came to the small bridge. While crossing the bridge "burp" said the hare as he let out a big cabbage burpy. The mouse replied with a big cheese burpy. They both laughed and said "excuse me" to each other. The two friends ran the rest of the way laughing.