THE KINGDOM OF MOUSELAND
Long, long ago and far, far away, there lived in a forest many, many little mice. They had a wonderful city of their own with their own little shops and churches and a beautiful large palace for their King. Each little mouse had his own little house, with his own little chairs and tables and beds and everything complete. And they all lived very happily in their Kingdom of Mouseland, until one day a terrible thing happened to them. A great caravan came through the kingdom, and none of the men in the caravan knew that their camels were trampling down the forts and big buildings of Mouseland. To them these buildings looked like mounds of sand and Mouseland seemed like any other part of the forest.
So these men, on the backs of the big camels, not knowing what great havoc they were working with the mice, encamped in Mouseland for the night.
One of the Camels became sick and, as the owner thought that it was going to die, he left it in the forest and went on with the caravan. But the Camel did not die. Very soon he got well and, when he was well, he became very hungry. So he strolled all about Mouseland, eating up the crops of the Mice, and treading down their houses until at last he came to the Mouse King’s park. He ate a great many trees and trampled down the grass and flowers; and the Keeper ran in a hurry to tell the King.
“Ee-ee-ee-ee!” squeaked the Keeper. “Oh, King, great King! there’s a large mountain several miles high out in our garden, eating everything up that is within sight. What shall we do?”
“We must make an example of this mountain,” said the King, “or the whole earth will be moving and we shall all be destroyed.”
Then the King called to his Prime Minister who was a Fox, named Sandy. “Go, and command that mountain to come to me at once!”
So Sandy, the Prime Minister, went to find the mountain. And the next day he came back, leading the Camel by his nose-string. But, when the Camel saw how very little the King of the Mice was, he began to grunt and to gurgle, to wrinkle up his nose and make scornful faces at the King.