Belling the cat

Belling the Cat

Long ago, the mice had a general council to consider what measures
they could take to outwit their common enemy, the Cat. Some said this,
and some said that; but at last a young mouse got up and said he had a
proposal to make, which he thought would meet the case. "You will all
agree," said he, "that our chief danger consists in the sly and treacherous
manner in which the enemy approaches us. Now, if we could receive
some signal of her approach, we could easily escape from her. I venture,
therefore, to propose that a small bell be procured, and attached by a
ribbon round the neck of the Cat. By this means we should always know
when she was about, and could easily retire while she was in the
neighbourhood."

This proposal met with general applause, until an old mouse got up
and said: "That is all very well, but who is to bell the Cat?" The mice
looked at one another and nobody spoke. Then the old mouse said:

"It is easy to propose impossible remedies."