The great King of Beasts did not think the little mouse could help him. But the mouse gnawed the cords in the net with his teeth, and thus set the Lion free.
This story that I am going to tell you is of a rat—a kind of cousin to the mouse.
In many of our cities the City Fathers have not thought much of the many rats that live in the alleys and big warehouses, where cotton and grain are stored.
The City Fathers, like the King of Beasts, have looked with contempt on the little rats. They did not believe they were large enough to do any great harm, but rats and mice are dirty little animals and can carry disease. The Health Doctors, who are always digging into things, have made a serious charge against Mr. Rat. They say that he is the "Carrier" of a terrible disease, and that he is to be more feared than the biggest lion.
The rats have brought this disease from the far-away countries in Asia. You will ask—How could the rats bring this disease, which is called "the plague," since they cannot swim across the ocean? No, that is true. But you know that the rats are great wanderers, and they frequently get on the ships which are loaded in the harbors in China, or Japan, and travel with the ships to the next port. You must remember that rats have fleas on them. In the far-away country the fleas bite persons who have the plague. The fleas then get on the rats in the neighborhood, and even give the plague to the rats.
When the ship unloads its cargo, in Mobile, San Francisco, or New York, these rats, with their fleas and plague germs, go ashore, and in this way they spread the disease.
When the fleas from the rats bite persons, they poison them with the plague germs. Many persons in Asia die of this disease every year.
In this country we prevent it by doing what the Lion of long ago did not do. We kill the rats, for they are dirty little animals.
QUESTIONS
1. Tell the story of the Lion and the Mouse. Who wrote this fable? What is a fable?