Country Mouse – Missed Opportunities And Employment Is Scarce
“The City Mouse and the Country Mouse” is one of the hundreds of short stories or fables attributed to Aesop, an enslaved person and storyteller in ancient Greece. As a collection, his stories are known as Aesop’s Fables. Each fable teaches at least one moral, and we can read much more than that into many of his stories.
The City Mouse and the Country Mouse
This story is about two mice who are cousins (because mice have cousins, right?). So anyway, one of the mice lives in the city and the other lives in the country. So, the country mouse invites the city mouse to visit him. While in the country, the city mouse was surprised and even shocked at the simplicity in which his cousin lived. His home and food were not up to the city mouse’s standards. So he returned to his home in the city in disgust.
Now, it was the country mouse’s turn to visit his cousin in the city. The city mouse, in contrast, lived in a beautiful house and dined on the finest scraps left on the table. However, there was one big problem. A cat! We all know that the relationship between a cat and a mouse is not particularly amicable. One evening, an encounter with the cat at the dinner table forced them to retreat to the hole in the wall. That incident made the country mouse wonder why he was even there. Then, when his cousin told him that that very same cat had killed his mother and father, the country mouse decided it was time to go home. In fright, he scurried away without even saying goodbye to his cousin.
Okay, so what’s the moral of this story? It’s better to lead a safe and simple life than a fast and furious life filled with danger. So, let’s look at this in the context of the world today.
City Mouse vs Town Mouse
The original translated title of this fable was “The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse”. There’s no difference between a city mouse and a town mouse. However, there are significant differences between cities and towns in modern-day English. So, for purposes of comparison and symbolism, let’s add a third mouse here. And let’s retitle the fable “The City Mouse, the Town Mouse, and the Country Mouse”.
All across Canada and the United States, young people are moving from the farms (the country) to the towns and ultimately to the big cities. Why, you may ask. There are many reasons for this, and I’m sure it’s also happening in other countries. Is it money? It all comes down to money, either money in or money out.
Why Are the Country Mice on the Move?
For the country mouse, life is dying all across the prairies. Giant conglomerates are taking over the family farms and creating vast mega-farms. So there is no longer the inherited opportunity, and in many cases, duty for young people to automatically take over the family business. The family business is gone! Instead, they become workers without work or any source of income in their own communities. They have no choice but to move on.
So they move into town, where some may find employment in shops or other small businesses. However, there aren’t enough jobs in the towns for all displaced farm families and farm workers because the population is moving and the towns are drying up. There aren’t enough residents in the area to keep the small businesses viable. As a result, previously thriving towns across the prairies are turning into virtual ghost towns. All that’s left is a gas station and perhaps a corner store, but no longer any houses that are actually inhabited. Some are no longer even habitable. It’s a vicious cycle of Catch-22.
When All That’s Left Is City Mice
As a country and culture, we have lost much of our heritage. No more relatives with family farms to visit during summer vacation. Just wide open spaces to drive through on our way to somewhere else. As they say when driving through Saskatchewan, “You can go for hours, and all you see is miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles.”
When I was about 11, I went with my Gramma and Grampa to a distant relative’s farm for a few days. It was sweltering outside on this prairie day, so we had the car windows open. Unfortunately, it was a terrible year for grasshoppers (similar to locusts). So the grasshoppers were jumping in and out through the car windows. My Grampa was making fun of me because I was freaking out in the backseat.
While we were at the farm, a milk cow almost stepped on me and nearly crushed me into the barn wall as she finished her milking turn and backed out of the stall. Those were the good old days when kids could experience something different than their day-to-day lives. But farms are one thing that my children and grandchildren probably won’t be able to share as I did.
The City’s Not All Bad
Okay, enough whining about all that we’ve lost as a culture. What have we gained in the last century or so? Technology has caused a significant migration from the country to the city. However, it has brought many new conveniences to our lives. For example, air travel has allowed us to get from here to there much more quickly and enjoy more time at our destinations. We have higher-paying jobs, many new forms of entertainment, and easy access to what we need and, more importantly, what we want. But life is too fast with little time to relax. Oh, for the good old days when life was less complicated.
And Now For Your Listening Enjoyment
Here’s a song that fits this essay’s times and theme. It’s called “Farmer’s Song” by Murray McLauchlan, released in 1972. Murray was born in Scotland but grew up in suburban Toronto, Canada. He has an unusual accent, Scottish mixed with Eastern Canadian and a bit of Western twang because he is a Country and Western singer.
Lyrics
"Farmers Song" Recorded by Murray McLauchlan (1973) Written by Murray McLauchlan Dusty old farmer out working your fields Hanging down over your tractor wheels The sun beatin' down turns the red paint to orange And rusty old patches of steel There's no farmer songs on that car radio Just cowboys, truck drivers and pain Well this is my way to say thanks for the meal And I hope there's no shortage of rain Straw hats and old dirty hankies Moppin' a face like a shoe Thanks for the meal here's a song that is real From a kid from the city to you The combines gang up, take most of the bread Things just ain't like they used to be Though your kids are out after the American dream And they're workin in big factories Now If I come on by, when you're out in the sun Can I wave at you just like a friend These days when everyone's taking so much There's somebody giving back in Straw hats and old dirty hankies Moppin' a face like a shoe Thanks for the meal here's a song that is real From a kid from the city to you
The above essay is for entertainment and English language study only. For suggestions on how to use this post to improve your English reading and listening comprehension, click here.
Vocabulary
- fable – noun; a tale , esp. with animals as characters, conveying a moral; a short story usually for children with a moral
- moral – noun; a lesson (esp. at the end) of a fable, story, event, etc.; a life lesson on how to be a good person
- amicable – adjective; showing or done in a spirit; friendly
- scurried away – (scurry away) intransitive verb; run or move hurriedly, esp. with short quick steps; scamper; how a mouse moves when it runs
- symbolism – noun; the use of symbols to represent ideas; using something a person knows well to explain something different
- ultimately – adjective; lastly, finally; in the end
- conglomerate – noun; a group or cooperation formed by the merging of separate and diverse firms; very large an usually multi-national company
- vast – adjective; immense, huge: very big
- mega – slang adjective; of enormous size, importance, etc.; very big; always the beginning of a hyphenated word ( – )
- displaced – adjective; esp. a person forced to leave his or her home; forced to leave their home
- viable – adjective; feasible; practicable, esp. from an economic standpoint; can’t make money (in this context)
- habitable – adjective; fit or suitable for habitation; unable to be lived in because not taken care of
- vicious – adjective; fierce, intense, severe; impossible (in this context)
- Catch-22 – noun; a dilemma or circumstance from which there is no escape because of mutually conflicting or dependent conditions; #1 can’t happen before #2, but #2 can’t happen before #1, so it is impossible
- Saskatchewan – proper noun; a province of west central Canada; capital Regina; I was born in Regina, Saskatchewan
- Saskatchewan – adjective; be uncomfortably hot; very, very hot
- freaking out – (freak out) intransitive verb; become or make very angry, frightened, excited, etc.; afraid (in this context)
- whining – noun; a complaining tone of voice; complaining
- migration – noun; (of people) a move from one place of residence to another; a move from one area to another
- twang – noun; a nasal quality of pronunciation or intonation characteristic of the speech of an individual, area, country, etc.; nasal singing often associated with older Country and Western music
Comprehension Questions
- How many short stories or fables are attributed to Aesop?
(a) one, (b) thirty-seven, (c) hundreds, or (d) thousands - Do mice have cousins?
Yes or No - How many cousins do you have?
- Do you know anyone who lives on a farm?
Yes or No - Have you ever been to a farm that has animals?
Yes or No - Have you ever milked a cow?
Yes or No - Do you have any pets? If yes, what kind of pet do you have?
Yes or No - Are you a city mouse or a country mouse? (Remember this just symbolism, No one is calling you a mouse.)
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