“'You poor little mouse，' said she， one day as she peeped into my cage， 'I will set youfree.' She then drew forth the iron fastening， and I sprang out on the window-sill， and fromthence to the roof. Free! free! that was all I could think of; not of the object of my journey.It GREw dark， and as night was coming on I found a lodging in an old tower， where dwelt awatchman and an owl. I had no confidence in either of them， least of all in the owl， which islike a cat， and has a great failing， for she eats mice. One may however be mistakensometimes; and so was I， for this was a respectable and well-educated old owl， who knewmore than the watchman， and even as much as I did myself. The young owls made a greatfuss about everything， but the only rough words she would say to them were， 'You hadbetter go and make some soup from sausage skewers.' She was very indulgent and loving toher children. Her conduct gave me such confidence in her， that from the crack where I sat Icalled out 'squeak.' This confidence of mine pleased her so much that she assured me shewould take me under her own protection， and that not a creature should do me harm. Thefact was， she wickedly meant to keep me in reserve for her own eating in winter， when foodwould be scarce. Yet she was a very clever lady-owl; she explained to me that the watchmancould only hoot with the horn that hung loose at his side; and then she said he is so terriblyproud of it， that he imagines himself an owl in the tower;—wants to do great things， butonly succeeds in small; all soup on a sausage skewer. Then I begged the owl to give me therecipe for this soup. 'Soup from a sausage skewer，' said she， 'is only a proverb amongstmankind， and may be understood in many ways. Each believes his own way the best， andafter all， the proverb signifies nothing.' 'Nothing!' I exclaimed. I was quite struck. Truth isnot always agreeable， but truth is above everything else， as the old owl said. I thought overall this， and saw quite plainly that if truth was really so far above everything else， it must bemuch more valuable than soup from a sausage skewer. So I hastened to get away， that Imight be home in time， and bring what was highest and best， and above everything—namely， the truth. The mice are an enlightened people， and the mouse-king is above themall. He is therefore capable of making me queen for the sake of truth.”
“Your truth is a falsehood，” said the mouse who had not yet spoken; “I can prepare thesoup， and I mean to do so.”
How It Was Prepared
DID not travel，“ said the third mouse; ”I stayed in this country： that was the right way.One gains nothing by travelling—everything can be acquired here quite as easily; so I stayed athome. I have not obtained what I know from supernatural beings. I have neither swallowed it，nor learnt it from conversing with owls. I have got it all from my reflections and thoughts. Willyou now set the kettle on the fire—so? Now pour the water in—quite full—up to the brim;place it on the fire; make up a good blaze; keep it burning， that the water may boil; itmust boil over and over. There， now I throw in the skewer. Will the mouse-king be pleasednow to dip his tail into the boiling water， and stir it round with the tail. The longer the kingstirs it， the stronger the soup will become. Nothing more is necessary， only to stir it.“
“Can no one else do this?” asked the king.
“No，” said the mouse; “only in the tail of the mouse-king is this power contained.”
And the water boiled and bubbled， as the mouse-king stood close beside the kettle. Itseemed rather a dangerous performance; but he turned round， and put out his tail， asmice do in a dairy， when they wish to skim the cream from a pan of milk with their tails andafterwards lick it off. But the mouse-king's tail had only just touched the hot steam， when hesprang away from the chimney in a GREat hurry， exclaiming， “Oh， certainly， by all means，you must be my queen; and we will let the soup question rest till our golden wedding， fiftyyears hence; so that the poor in my kingdom， who are then to have plenty of food， will havesomething to look forward to for a long time， with great joy.”
And very soon the wedding took place. But many of the mice， as they were returninghome， said that the soup could not be properly called “soup from a sausage skewer，” but“soup from a mouse's tail.” They acknowledged also that some of the stories were very welltold; but that the whole could have been managed differently. “I should have told it so—and so—and so.” These were the critics who are always so clever afterwards.
When this story was circulated all over the world， the opinions upon it were divided; butthe story remained the same. And， after all， the best way in everything you undertake，GREat as well as small， is to expect no thanks for anything you may do， even when it refersto “soup from a sausage skewer.”
“昨天的晚餐好极了!”一只老母耗子对一只没有参加那次宴会的耗子说。“我在老耗子王旁边第二十一个坐位上，算是很不坏了!现在我给你讲讲那一道道的菜，安排得好极了!霉麵包、燻肉皮、油脂烛的头和肉肠。——然后从头再来一遍，我们就如同吃了两顿饭一样。气氛令人舒畅，大家尽讲些愉快的，瞎扯了一阵，就像一家人一样。除开肉肠签子外，甚么东西都没有剩下。於是我们便谈起它们来，接着便谈到肉肠签子烧汤;这事我们大家当然都听说过，可是谁也没有尝过这种汤，更不要说懂得怎么去做它了。宴会上大家为发明烧这种汤的乾一杯，他配得上做济贫院院长!挺好玩，是不是?老耗子王站了起来许诺说，年轻耗子中谁能把这种汤烧得最可口，谁便可以被立为他的皇后，从当天算起她们可以考虑整整一年。”“这并不算太坏!”另外那只耗子说道，“可是这种汤怎么个烧法呢?”“”是啊，怎么个烧法?“她们大家，所有的母耗子，小的老的，也都问起这一点。她们都想当皇后，可是却又都不愿意找那种麻烦跑到茫茫世界里去学，而这又是必要的!再说谁也没有离开家，离开藏身角落的本事。在外头并不是每天都能碰到乾酪皮，闻得到燻肉皮味的。不行，要挨饿的，是啊，说不定会活活被猫吃掉的。”