He’d rather eat like a peasant than risk being eaten by a ravenous dog, thanks very much! The town mouse’s perilous habits aren’t really the good life at all. He says that although the fare is simple he prefers the safety of his own home to the dangers of the city. Once they’ve caught their breath and things have calmed down, the shaken country mouse thanks his cousin for his hospitality but says he’ll be returning to his humble country dwelling right away. However, suddenly two dogs who hear them scratching around come hurtling into the room barking and send them scurrying for cover, in fear for their little lives. Sure enough, they do so and feast like kings upon the finest scraps from the owner’s table, in the house where the town mouse lives hidden. Boasting of the luxury and abundance to be found in his townhouse he insists that the country mouse should come back to the city with him for a taste of the good life. However, the town mouse laughed at his unsophisticated tastes and peasant fare. The country mouse welcomed his cousin with a simple meal of rustic food: a crust of bread and some dry oats. This is my retelling of the fable… A town mouse once visited his cousin in the countryside. – Meditations, 11.22Įlsewhere, Marcus also briefly mentions “the scurrying around of frightened little mice”, perhaps also with the same fable in mind, as he goes on to say that we should remember “every man is worth just as much as the things with which he concerns himself” ( Meditations, 7.3). The country mouse and the town mouse, and the alarm and trepidation of the latter.
Seven centuries after Aesop, the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, was meditating upon: This little story can also help us to understand certain aspects of Stoic philosophy. Did you know that his stories were used by ancient philosophers? It was said that while in prison, awaiting execution, Socrates turned several of Aesop’s Fables into verse.
One of my favourite Fables from Aesop is The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse.
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