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A Town Mouse and a Country Mouse were acquaintances, and the

Country Mouse one day invited his friend to come and see him at

his home in the fields. The Town Mouse came, and they sat down to

a dinner of barleycorns and roots, the latter of which had a

distinctly earthy flavour. The fare was not much to the taste of

the guest, and presently he broke out with "My poor dear friend,

you live here no better than the ants. Now, you should just see

how I fare! My larder is a regular horn of plenty. You must come

and stay with me, and I promise you you shall live on the fat of

the land." So when he returned to town he took the Country Mouse

with him, and showed him into a larder containing flour and

oatmeal and figs and honey and dates. The Country Mouse had never

seen anything like it, and sat down to enjoy the luxuries his

friend provided: but before they had well begun, the door of the

larder opened and some one came in.