CITY MOUSE AND THE NAGARAJ
Squeaky was very happy living in his comfortable little hole in a lovely house on the outskirts of the city. It was a fairly big house and the owners really loved their food. There was always plenty to eat and because Squeaky had been too careful not to make his presence apparent, the owners never really felt the need to have a Cat.
Now it so happened that one day the owners of the house decided to go on a vacation - it wouldn’t have been an issue to concern Squeaky much if it weren’t for the food part. No owners in the house meant NO FOOD.
There was little problem in the beginning as Squeaky, an intelligent foresighted mouse, had kept some food stored in his hole but, like all good things, one day, that stored food got finished. What to do now? The owners were out, the Kitchen was barren, the cupboards were locked and the only smell in the house was that of old paint and furniture. Desperate times require desperate measures. Finally, after all these long years, Squeaky was forced by the situation to move out of the comfortable cocoon of the house and search for food elsewhere.
Finding food for a mouse is not such a difficult matter but here there was a difference. Squeaky didn’t really have the instincts of a typical mouse, after all he had spent the better part of his life in this house where he never had to try too hard to hunt for the food; the gluttonous owners ensured that there was plenty lying around. Squeaky, a little fearful, a little anxious, moved out of the house.
It was a beautiful sight. Since the house was on the outskirts, it was surrounded by lush green grass, tall trees and very few other scattered houses. Nearby there was the city Garbage dump. Now, garbage may be loathsome for us humans but for a hungry Rodent it is a veritable feast. The smell from the dump stirred Squeaky’s hungry tummy even more and animated, he moved towards the smell.
It was a huge dump and a cocktail of left overs of everything one could imagine. It had used and crumpled packets of Biscuits and chips, rotten remains of Pastas, chow meins, paneer and noodles, crushed cans of cold drinks, half empty jars of pickles and jams - IT WAS A TREASURE TROVE. Squeaky couldn’t believe his luck. He was confused -- where to start? Unlike the house he had been in, here he didn’t have to do with what had been prepared, he was the chooser now, he could choose to eat whatever he wanted to.
It was the half full packet of cheese biscuits which somebody had carelessly, or for Squeaky, thoughtfully, thrown in the dump, that he decided to attack first. It tasted like Heaven! Squeaky made a mental note of the things he would be having after getting over with the cheese biscuits. Pasta will be next, followed by the broken jam bottle from which the luscious cherry red remains of the Jam were oozing out, and then it will be the crumbs of what once would have been a delectable Hamburger. Chips, chowmein will have to wait till evening for their turn as Squeaky planned to enjoy a nice siesta after the King’s
lunch.
It seemed that Squeaky had hit upon a ceaseless source of gourmet riches; he will never have to go hungry again. But, good things do not last too long and this one didn’t even last till the end of the first meal.
Lurking behind a big heap of household garbage was the most vicious, the blackest, the vilest looking, Snake; a writhing, four meter long repugnant mass of pure devilry. The Snake was greedily eyeing Squeaky who was busy feasting, blissfully oblivious of the fact that this was probably going to be his last meal.
Very swiftly the snake darted and had squeaky trapped in his coil. He loved to torture his prey before eating it. Poor squeaky, he was a house mouse with absolutely no experience of the dangers of the outdoor world. He started shaking wildly. The snake who was enjoying the terror he could trigger in his prey said, “you are not much, but for a Mid-time Snack you are not too bad either”. The mouse was petrified; but then there is a great quality in these house mice; they always act the most bold and intelligent when situation is the worst for them. Our Squeaky was a blue blooded house mouse with all the typical traits and faced with a sure mortal threat he suddenly regained his composure, collected his wits and said, “Oh! what a lucky day. Nagaraj...himself...I cannot believe my good luck. Dear sir, I am blessed”. The reincarnation of Devil himself - the snake - was surprised. ‘What was that?’ He sat thinking. Nobody ever had said any such thing to him. The Mouse didn’t stop here. He continued, ‘It was my sincere wish that my end should come at your hands...err...your mouth, i mean. Sir, everyone has to die one day, but if you can be of use to your God in death, that is the biggest salvation. I must have done some really good deeds to merit an end like this. But, my dear sir, I do have one last wish”. The snake, soaked in unabashed flattery, was more than willing to condescend so much so as to accommodate ‘one last wish’. He said, “I am not that heartless to deprive my meal of its last wish, go on, tell me, what is it that you want?” Smart Squeaky said, “Oh sir, I used to see myself being eaten by you -- Nagaraj -- in my dreams and traveling straight to heaven, but when I told my dimwit friends about it, they wouldn’t believe. Now when I show them that my God does exist, not only would they be surprised but, I am sure, they too would want to go to heaven”. The Snake couldn’t believe his luck; what a day it was; on one hand you have a fat little meal walking up to you, and on the other hand, like an icing on the cake, he would be inviting the whole litter! This one meal is going to last for days.
The gleeful serpent said magnanimously, “well, well, I shan’t deprive any of you the chance to travel to heaven, go and bring all your friends, but just be quick, I am quite hungry here”.
Great strength needn’t be accompanied with equally great Brains, it was well evident as the power drunk, dumb Snake displayed so aptly. Before any small ray of intelligence could penetrate the thick skulled Snake, Squeaky scampered to safety to the edge of the Garbage bin. When he was sure that he was at a safe distance from the filthy Vermin, he said, “Thank you my dear sir, but I just remembered that there are still a few things that I haven’t seen in this beautiful world, therefore I am not yet ready to go to heaven. Meanwhile, i will pray to the real God up there to give some brain in that empty head of yours. Have a very good day, sir!” With that Squeaky ran away towards the safety and comfort of the House he lived in, leaving the dumbfounded Snake gaping at how a puny little mouse could make a big fool of him.
In the House a sweet little surprise awaited Squeaky - the owners had returned from the vacation and with them had come a whole lot of Food.
Moral:
Smartness always scores over Physical strength and be really really beware of flatterers!!!
