The Crisis Remains Unsolved Still

We often say ‘When the Cat is away, the mice will play.’ And this is true in every field. If in a class, the teacher is not there, the students make much noise; they throw paper balls, shoot paper rockets etc. If in an office, the boss is not present, the employees hardly work. They spend their time in chatting with each other or going to canteen etc. Of course we can’t equate a teacher or a boss with a cat. No, no. A cat is a cat. Let us come to the main point.

In a large bungalow, a family used to live comfortably. They had a large store room full of grains, pulses and other such eatable commodities. Alongwith them a large family of rats also lived in the house. In the store room they had plenty to eat and several hide-outs. But their happiness did not last long. One day the master of the house noticed that the rats in the process of sharpening their teeth had cut certain important documents into pieces. He was badly hurt. To teach lessons to the dirty rats, he bought a Cat and kept her in the house as a pet.

When the cat saw a number of rats roaming freely here and there, she just stretched her moustaches. She then planned to prey upon them one by one and have a nice dinner daily. And she started doing it from the very first day. In a few days, the number of rats had decreased a lot.

Observing the decreasing number of rats, the oldest rat cautioned all his colleagues not to come out of their hidings especially when the cat was around. But the cat too was very clever. She stealthily sat in a corner with her eyes closed and waited for the right opportunity to pounce upon its prey.

The senior most rat called an emergency meeting of all the rats to find out a solution to the ever increasing crisis. He said, friends you all know what the crisis is! Our very survival is at stake. We have gathered here to find a solution to the problem. Can any of you suggest some way out? For a while, there was murmuring amongst the rats. One of the young rats suggested that the only solution is that if we tie a bell in the neck of the cat, then we can easily know her movements and it will be easier for us to save ourselves. Everybody nodded, yes, yes that is a good idea. Now the senior rat said, alright tell me, ‘Who of you will bell the cat?’ Come forward. We will reward the one who does so. But none came forward. All slipped away, one by one. The crisis remains unsolved still :).