A CERTAIN HOUSE was overrun with Mice. A Cat, discovering this, made her way into it and began to catch and eat them one by one. Fearing for their lives, the Mice kept themselves close in their holes. The Cat was no longer able to get at them and perceived that she must tempt them forth by some device. For this purpose she jumped upon a peg, and suspending herself from it, pretended to be dead. One of the Mice, peeping stealthily out, saw her and said, “Ah, my good madam, even though you should turn into a meal-bag, we will not come near you.”
ある家にネズミがはびこっていた。それに気づいたネコがその家に入りこみ、ネズミを一匹ずつつかまえては食べはじめた。ネズミたちは命があぶないとおそれて、穴の中にこもったまま出てこなくなった。ネコはもうネズミに手が出せなくなり、何か計略を使っておびき出すしかないと考えた。そこでネコは壁のくぎに飛びつき、そこからぶら下がって、死んだふりをした。一匹のネズミがこっそり外をのぞいてネコを見つけ、こう言った。「ああ、奥さま、たとえあなたが粉袋に化けたとしても、わたしたちは近寄りませんよ」