Fables of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists/Fable CXV
Fab CXV.
A Cat and Mice.
THere was a House Mightily troubled with Mice, and a Notable Cat there was, that Time after Time had Pickd up so Many of 'em, that they agreed among themselves to keep above in the Cieling; for they found that upon the Plain Floor there was No Living for em. This Spoil’d Pusses Sport, unless she could find a way to Trepan them Down again. So she Leapt up to a Pin that was driven into the Wall, and there Hung like a Polcat in a Warren, to Amuse them. The Mice took Notice of it, and One Wiser then the rest Stretched out his Neck to learn the Truth of the Matter, and so soon as ever he found how ‘twas. Ah, says he, You may Hang there ‘till Your Heart Akes; for if you were but a Dish Clout, as you are a Counterfeiting-Devil of a Cat, here's not a Creature will come Near ye.
The Moral.
REFLEXION.
What we cannot Compass by Force, must be Attempted by Invention, and Address, but then on the Other hand, in All Cases of Hazzard, Things would be well Weigh’d and Examin‘d before we Trust. This Fable is the Fiction of a Case not Altogether Incredible. 'Tis a Common Thing for an Old Jade to Counterfeit Lame, for fear of Hard Riding: for a Duck to run Flapping and Fluttering away as if she were Maim’d, to carry People from her Young: as there's a Story of a Fox that was Hard Hunted, and Hung himself up by the Teeth in a Warren among the Vermin to put the Dogs to a Loss. Without any more Words, Twenty Instances might be given to shew how near That which we call Impulse, or Instinct, comes to Reason: For the Cats Policy was no Other in truth, then That we call Sleeping Dog-Sleep: And there was the very same Fore-thought, and Design in't too, which in a Construction ot Law and Equity passes for Malice Prepense.