The City Mouse and the Mountain Mouse - 城里的老鼠和山里的老鼠

Dusk in the mountains was very quiet. The old house stood beside the terraced fields, and the lamp at the door had just come on. Doudou, a plump city mouse, had come to visit his friend Maomao. Brushing the dust off himself, he called out, "Maomao, I'm here!"

Maomao crawled out from the corner of the wall. He was thin, with bright eyes. "You finally made it! Was the trip tiring?" Doudou said, out of breath, "Yes! The mountain road is way too long!" Maomao said, "You get used to it."

Inside were several sacks of grain, with seeds all over the floor. Maomao said, "Here it's both quiet and clean. In the mountains not only is the air fresh, the seeds are also available anytime." Doudou nodded, but he wasn't very satisfied.

Doudou ate a seed and frowned. "Too hard! Is this all you have in the mountains? In the city the noodle shops are nice and warm, and customers are always dropping dumplings. I don't just eat my fill, I eat well too."

Maomao was annoyed. "You'd eat other people's leftovers? The city is noisy and dirty. How can you stand living there?" Doudou wouldn't back down. "The mountains are cold and dark. There isn't even anything warm here!" Neither of them would give in.

Maomao said, "First, the air is fresh. Second, nobody bothers you." Doudou shot back, "But the city is lively, and there's lots of tasty food!" They had only been arguing for a moment when there was a sudden noise at the door.

The door, still closed moments ago, had been blown open a crack by the wind. A black, thin cat slipped inside. It had been hungry for several days, and its eyes were fixed on the mice on the floor. Neither of them dared to move.

The cat crept closer. Doudou whispered, "What do we do?" Maomao was scared too, but he knew every corner of the room. He said, "Don't be scared. We have to think of something." Doudou thought, "So the mountains aren't safe either."

Maomao pointed at a jar lying on its side by the wall and said, "You run, I'll lead it away!" Doudou was about to object, but Maomao had already dashed out. He led the cat toward the jar, and just before he reached it, he suddenly turned aside.

The cat ran headfirst into the jar. The jar started rolling, and the cat, stuck inside, kept yowling. Doudou shouted, "Let's go, quick!" Maomao ran back, and he and Doudou raced together toward a narrow crack in the corner of the wall.

Doudou was too plump and got stuck in the crack. Maomao pulled from the front while Doudou pushed forward as hard as he could. The two mice kept straining together, and neither of them stopped. At last Doudou squeezed through.

On the other side of the wall was the corner where the grain was kept. The two mice leaned against the wall, catching their breath. Doudou said, "You ran really fast back there." Maomao laughed. "And you shouted pretty loud back there."

The cat struggled in the jar for a long time before it finally got free and ran off. Behind the grain sacks was a small hole, warm and safe, just big enough for the two of them.

They squeezed into the same hole. Doudou no longer talked about dumplings, and Maomao no longer talked about seeds. Outside the window the stars were bright. Doudou yawned, and Maomao was already asleep.