They ran in and out and all about the barn. They had nothing to fear.
When they were hungry they could always find nice grain in the stalls. They became very fat.
And they were as happy a family of rats as one could wish to see.
But one day a big black cat found the rats’ barn.
That was a sad day for the rat family!
This cat was not fat and he was not happy.
He was very thin, very cross, and very hungry.
One thing he liked to eat best of all things in the world—rats.