A WEASEL, inactive from age and infirmities, was not able to
catch mice as he once did. He therefore rolled himself in flour
and lay down in a dark corner. A Mouse, supposing him to be
food, leaped upon him, and was instantly caught and squeezed to
death. Another perished in a similar manner, and then a third,
and still others after them. A very old Mouse, who had escaped
many a trap and snare1, observed from a safe distance the trick of
his crafty2 foe3 and said, "Ah! you that lie there, may you prosper
just in the same proportion as you are what you pretend to be!"
