【英】《伊索寓言》第24集： The Cat and the Mice

A hungry cat roamed through the countryside, looking for a place where he might find a steady 
meal. He came upon a storehouse that was overrun with mice.

“This will be the perfect spot for me,” the cat said as he slipped through a crack into the storehouse.

For many days, the cat ate mice until he was sleek and healthy. But the mice grew wise to the cat and hid in the tiny cracks and burrows in the walls. They lived off grain they had stored and did not come out where the cat could reach them.

Though the cat stalked and hunted, he could find nothing else to eat in the storehouse. “I know there are still mice here,” he muttered. “I must do something to bring them out.”

The cat changed the way he acted. He stopped hunting and slinking. He lay around and slept in the beams of sunlight through the window. He sang songs and recited poetry. He even pretended that he had grown fond of eating grain and preferred it over mice. But still the mice did not come out of their holes.

Finally, the cat began to gasp and moan that he felt very sick. He draped himself over a chair with his legs hanging off. He lay perfectly still as if he were dead. He barely breathed, though he listened very closely in case the mice should come out.

An old mouse shouted from a crack in the wall. “You’re very clever, Cat! But no matter how much you pretend to be a harmless sack, we will not come out! Once you learn of a dangerous foe, you shouldn’t be fooled by an act of innocence.”