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Aesop's Fables, translated by Laura Gibbs (2002)

140. THE FROG AND THE MOUSE
Perry 384 (Life of Aesop 133)

Back when all the animals spoke the same language, the mouse became friends with a frog and invited him to dinner. The mouse then took the frog into a storeroom filled to the rafters with bread, meat, cheese, olives, and dried figs and said, 'Eat!' Since the mouse had shown him such warm hospitality, the frog said to the mouse, 'Now you must come to my place for dinner, so that I can show you some warm hospitality too.' The frog then led the mouse to the pond and said to him, 'Dive into the water!' The mouse said, 'But I don't know how to dive!' So the frog said, 'I will teach you.' He used a piece of string to tie the mouse's foot to his own and then jumped into the pond, dragging the mouse down with him. As the mouse was choking, he said, 'Even if I'm dead and you're still alive, I will get my revenge!' The frog then plunged down into the water, drowning the mouse. As the mouse's body floated to the surface of the water and drifted along, a raven grabbed hold of it together with the frog who was still tied to the mouse by the string. After the raven finished eating the mouse he then grabbed the frog. In this way the mouse got his revenge on the frog.


Source: Aesop's Fables. A new translation by Laura Gibbs. Oxford University Press (World's Classics): Oxford, 2002.
NOTE: New cover, with new ISBN, published in 2008; contents of book unchanged.