There was once a house that was full of mice. A cat heard of this and said to herself, "That's the place for me." Then off she went to live in the house, and caught the mice one by one and ate them. At last the mice could stand it no longer, and they decided to take to their holes and stay there. "That's awkward," said the cat to herself, "the only thing to do is to lure them out by a trick." So she considered a while, and then climbed up the wall and let herself hang down by her back legs from a peg, and pretended to be dead. By and by a mouse peeped out and saw the cat hanging there. "Aha!" it cried. "You're very clever, madam, no doubt, but you may turn yourself into a bag of flour hanging there if you like, yet you won't catch us coming anywhere near you." If you are wise, you won't be deceived by the innocent appearance of those whom you have once found to be dangerous.
從前有一戶人家家裡鼠滿為患，一隻貓聽到了這事，對自己說道：「那地方太適合我了。」於是她立刻出發，到那戶人家裡住下，一隻又一隻地捉住老鼠，把牠們都吞下了肚。 終於那些老鼠受不了了，下定決心要一直待在洞裡不出去。 「這可不好對付，」這隻貓心想，「唯一的方法，就是想個計謀把牠們給騙出來。」 於是她思忖了一會兒，接著爬到牆上，用兩隻後腳鉤住釘子，身體往下吊著，假裝自己已經死了。過了一會兒，一隻老鼠往外偷看，見到貓吊在那兒。「哈！」老鼠大喊：「這位女士，不可否認妳是很聰明，不過哪怕妳把自己變成一袋麵粉掛在那裡，也沒辦法把我
們騙去妳旁邊讓妳抓。」 一旦一朝為患，聰明人便會時時警戒。
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