|
Set1_Author_01 Once upon a time, there was a young rat named Arthur who couldn't make up his mind. |
|
Set1_Author_02 Whenever the other rats asked him if he would like to go out hunting with them, he would answer in a soft voice, "I don't know." |
|
Set1_Author_03 And when they said, "Would you rather stay inside?" he wouldn't say yes or no either. |
|
Set1_Author_04 He'd always avoid making a choice. |
|
Set1_Author_05 One fine day, his aunt Zelda appealed to him, "Now look here! |
|
Set1_Author_06 No one is going to care about you if you carry on like this. |
|
Set1_Author_07 You have no more mind of your own than a greasy old blade of grass!" |
|
Set1_Author_08 Arthur coughed and looked wise as usual, but said nothing. |
|
Set1_Author_09 "Don't you think so?" said Zelda, stamping her foot, for she couldn't bear to see the poor little rat so coldblooded. |
|
Set1_Author_10 "I don't know," was all he ever answered, |
|
Set1_Author_11 and then he'd walk off to think for an hour or more |
|
Set1_Author_12 about whether he would stay in his hole in the ground or go up into the loft. |
|
Set1_Author_13 One night the rats heard a loud noise. |
|
Set1_Author_14 They lived in a very dark and dreary old place. |
|
Set1_Author_15 The roof let the rain come washing in, |
|
Set1_Author_16 making shallow pools on the muddy floor. |
|
Set1_Author_17 The beams and rafters were all rotten through, |
|
Set1_Author_18 so eventually the whole structure was quite unsafe. |
|
Set1_Author_19 At last, one of the joists gave way and the beams fell down. |
|
Set1_Author_20 The walls shook and the ceiling collapsed with a loud bang. |
|
Set1_Author_21 The rats shrieked and their fur stood on end with fear and horror. |
|
Set1_Author_22 "This won't do," said their leader with a scowl. |
|
Set1_Author_23 "We can't stay cooped up here any longer." |
|
Set1_Author_24 So he sent out scouts to search for a new home. |
|
Set1_Author_25 A little later on in the evening they came back, |
|
Set1_Author_26 having found an old-fashioned barn near a stone house where there would be room, |
|
Set1_Author_27 board and food for all of them. |
|
Set1_Author_28 There, they saw a kindly mare named Alberta, |
|
Set1_Author_29 a cow, and some birds in the garden with an elm tree in the middle. |
|
Set1_Author_30 The leader gave the order at once, "Company fall in!". |
|
Set1_Author_31 The rats crawled out of their holes right away and the sad mob stood on the floor in a long line. |
|
Set1_Author_32 Just then, the old rat caught sight of young Arthur. |
|
Set1_Author_33 He wasn't in the line, and he wasn't exactly outside it; |
|
Set1_Author_34 he stood just nearby, ears pricked. |
|
Set1_Author_35 "Come on, get in line!" growled the old rodent unamused. |
|
Set1_Author_36 "You are coming too, aren’t you?” |
|
Set1_Author_37 "I don't know," said Arthur calmly. |
|
Set1_Author_38 "Why, the idea of it! You don't think it's safe here anymore, do you?" |
|
Set1_Author_39 "I'm not certain," said Arthur undaunted. |
|
Set1_Author_40 "The roof may not fall down yet." |
|
Set1_Author_41 "Well," said the old rat, "you would be stupid not to join us." |
|
Set1_Author_42 Then he turned to the assembled group and shouted, |
|
Set1_Author_43 "Right about face! March!" |
|
Set1_Author_44 and the long line marched out of the barn while the young rat watched them. |
|
Set1_Author_45 "I think I'll go tomorrow," he said to himself, |
|
Set1_Author_46 "but then again, perhaps I won't |
|
Set1_Author_47 it's so nice and snug here. |
|
Set1_Author_48 I guess I'll go back to my hole under the log for a while before I make up my mind." |
|
Set1_Author_49 But during the night there was a big crash. |
|
Set1_Author_50 Down came beams, rafters, joists — the whole business in a pile of rubble. |
|
Set1_Author_51 Next morning, there was a foggy dew. |
|
Set1_Author_52 Some boys and girls ran to the barn and a man in boots came to view the damage. |
|
Set1_Author_53 It seemed odd that the old building was not haunted by rats. |
|
Set1_Author_54 But at last one of the children happened to nudge a board and he saw a puny rat, |
|
Set1_Author_55 quite dead, tail half in and half out of his hole. |
|
Set1_Author_56 Thus the coward got his due, and there was no mourning for him. |
|
|