THE NIGHT-OWL, THE CAT AND THE MOUSE
A night-owl asked a cat if the cat would agree to carry him around, so that
together they could go look for someone to talk to. The cat took the owl to
the house of a mouse. The owl asked the cat to announce him and he did so. When
the mouse heard the voice of the cat, he came to the door of his house and said,
'What do you two want from me? What do you have to say?' 'We want to talk with
you,' said the owl and the cat. The mouse understood that these two had devised
some evil plot against him, so he replied, 'A curse on you, my lord cat, and
a curse on the one you are carrying-- and a curse on your house, and on your
sons and your daughters, and on all your damn relatives! You did badly to come
here, and I hope that bad things will befall you on your way back home!'
For people who do not know how to speak nicely to their enemies, thus creating
enmity and getting into trouble. |