Fable · 声匠改编 · 3:49
Belling the Cat
The mice are tired of the cat creeping up on them. A young mouse has a brilliant plan: hang a bell on her! Just one problem. The classic fable, retold.
Narrator
Lord Crumb, the chairmouse
Nib, a young mouse
Fern, a nervous mouse
Old Grey, the eldest mouseOther languages · 2 languages
About this story
Belling the Cat, also called The Mice in Council, is usually counted among Aesop's Fables, but no ancient Greek or Roman version is known. It first appears in medieval Europe, in the Latin fables of the English preacher Odo of Cheriton in the early 13th century, and William Langland retold it in his 14th-century poem Piers Plowman. This VoiceSmiths retelling stages the mouse council as a lively full-cast audio play, with a pompous chairmouse, a proud young inventor and one wise old mouse.
What it teaches
It is easy to suggest a plan and much harder to carry it out. A good idea needs answers to two questions: how will it be done, and who will do it?
Suits
Ages 4–9
Tips for telling it
- Hold your own mouse council: let children propose ideas, then ask together, who will do it?
- Ring a little bell whenever Duchess is mentioned and let children squeak and hide.
- Talk about the difference between a good idea and a plan someone can really do.
Questions people ask
- What does "belling the cat" mean?
- To bell the cat is to take on a risky or difficult job that everyone agrees should be done but nobody wants to do. Asking "Who will bell the cat?" points out that a plan is useless if no one can carry it out.
- What is the moral of Belling the Cat?
- It is one thing to say that something should be done, and quite another to do it. The mice all love the idea of a bell, but not one of them dares to hang it on the cat.
- Did Aesop write Belling the Cat?
- It is usually credited to Aesop, but no ancient version survives. The fable first appears in the Middle Ages, in the Latin fables of Odo of Cheriton in the early 13th century, and spread through later collections and Langland's Piers Plowman; this version is a VoiceSmiths retelling.
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