“That all!” said the mouse-king; “then we shall be glad to hear what information the nextmay have to give us.”What the Second Mouse Had to Tell
WAS born in the library， at a castle，“ said the second mouse. ”Very few members of ourfamily ever had the good fortune to get into the dining-room， much less the store-room. Onmy journey， and here to-day， are the only times I have ever seen a kitchen. We were oftenobliged to suffer hunger in the library， but then we gained a GREat deal of knowledge. Therumor reached us of the royal prize offered to those who should be able to make soup from asausage skewer. Then my old grandmother sought out a manuscript which， however， shecould not read， but had heard it read， and in it was written， 'Those who are poets can makesoup of sausage skewers.' She then asked me if I was a poet. I felt myself quite innocent ofany such pretensions. Then she said I must go out and make myself a poet. I asked again whatI should be required to do， for it seemed to me quite as difficult as to find out how to makesoup of a sausage skewer. My grandmother had heard a great deal of reading in her day， andshe told me three principal qualifications were necessary—understanding， imagination， andfeeling. 'If you can manage to acquire these three， you will be a poet， and the sausage-skewer soup will be quite easy to you.'
“So I went forth into the world， and turned my steps towards the west， that I mightbecome a poet. Understanding is the most important matter in everything. I knew that， for thetwo other qualifications are not thought much of; so I went first to seek for understanding.Where was I to find it? 'Go to the ant and learn wisdom，' said the GREat Jewish king. I knewthat from living in a library. So I went straight on till I came to the first great ant-hill， and thenI set myself to watch， that I might become wise. The ants are a very respectable people，they are wisdom itself. All they do is like the working of a sum in arithmetic， which comes right.'To work and to lay eggs，' say they， 'and to provide for posterity， is to live out your timeproperly;' and that they truly do. They are divided into the clean and the dirty ants， theirrank is pointed out by a number， and the ant-queen is number ONE; and her opinion is theonly correct one on everything; she seems to have the whole wisdom of the world in her，which was just the important matter I wished to acquire. She said a great deal which was nodoubt very clever; yet to me it sounded like nonsense. She said the ant-hill was the loftiestthing in the world， and yet close to the mound stood a tall tree， which no one could deny wasloftier， much loftier， but no mention was made of the tree. One evening an ant lost herself onthis tree; she had crept up the stem， not nearly to the top， but higher than any ant hadever ventured; and when at last she returned home she said that she had found something inher travels much higher than the ant-hill. The rest of the ants considered this an insult to thewhole community; so she was condemned to wear a muzzle and to live in perpetualsolitude. A short time afterwards another ant got on the tree， and made the same journeyand the same discovery， but she spoke of it cautiously and indefinitely， and as she was oneof the superior ants and very much respected， they believed her， and when she died theyerected an eggshell as a monument to her memory， for they cultivated a great respect forscience. I saw，” said the little mouse， “that the ants were always running to and fro with herburdens on their backs. Once I saw one of them drop her load; she gave herself a great dealof trouble in trying to raise it again， but she could not succeed. Then two others came up andtried with all their strength to help her， till they nearly dropped their own burdens in doingso; then they were obliged to stop for a moment in their help， for every one must think ofhimself first. And the ant-queen remarked that their conduct that day showed that theypossessed kind hearts and good understanding. 'These two qualities，' she continued， 'placeus ants in the highest degree above all other reasonable beings. Understanding musttherefore be seen among us in the most prominent manner， and my wisdom is greater thanall.' And so saying she raised herself on her two hind legs， that no one else might be mistakenfor her. I could not therefore make an error， so I ate her up. We are to go to the ants to learnwisdom， and I had got the queen.
“I now turned and went nearer to the lofty tree already mentioned， which was an oak. Ithad a tall trunk with a wide-spreading top， and was very old. I knew that a living being dwelthere， a dryad as she is called， who is born with the tree and dies with it. I had heard this inthe library， and here was just such a tree， and in it an oak-maiden. She uttered a terriblescream when she caught sight of me so near to her; like many women， she was very muchafraid of mice. And she had more real cause for fear than they have， for I might have gnawedthrough the tree on which her life depended. I spoke to her in a kind and friendly manner， andbegged her to take courage. At last she took me up in her delicate hand， and then I told herwhat had brought me out into the world， and she promised me that perhaps on that veryevening she should be able to obtain for me one of the two treasures for which I was seeking.She told me that Phantaesus was her very dear friend， that he was as beautiful as the god oflove， that he remained often for many hours with her under the leafy boughs of the tree whichthen rustled and waved more than ever over them both. He called her his dryad， she said，and the tree his tree; for the grand old oak， with its gnarled trunk， was just to his taste.The root， spreading deep into the earth， the top rising high in the fresh air， knew the valueof the drifted snow， the keen wind， and the warm sunshine， as it ought to be known.'Yes，' continued the dryad， 'the birds sing up above in the branches， and talk to each otherabout the beautiful fields they have visited in foreign lands; and on one of the withered boughsa stork has built his nest，—it is beautifully arranged， and besides it is pleasant to hear a littleabout the land of the pyramids. All this pleases Phantaesus， but it is not enough for him; Iam obliged to relate to him of my life in the woods; and to go back to my childhood， when Iwas little， and the tree so small and delicate that a stinging-nettle could overshadow it， andI have to tell everything that has happened since then till now that the tree is so large andstrong. Sit you down now under the GREen bindwood and pay attention， when Phantaesuscomes I will find an opportunity to lay hold of his wing and to pull out one of the little feathers.That feather you shall have; a better was never given to any poet， it will be quite enough foryou.'