A parable is told about the Mouse Trap. A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. “What food might this contain?” he wondered. He was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap. Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning. “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”
“There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”
The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, “Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it.”
The mouse turned to the pig and told him, “There is mousetrap in the house.” The pig sympathized, but said, “I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers.”
The mouse turned to the cow with the same message. She said, “Wow, Mr. Mouse. I’m sorry for you but that’s no skin off my nose.”
So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer’s mousetrap alone.
That very night a sound was heard throughout the house — like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer’s wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital and she returned home with a fever. Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient and the chicken was killed. But his wife’s sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. Unfortunately, the farmer’s wife did not get well; she died. Many people came for her funeral and the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.
You see, just like the animals in this story, human beings are often selfish by default. We think of ourselves and what we can gain – we can’t help it! But what we must realize is that we do not live in isolation. We are surrounded by people; our family, friends, colleagues and even strangers. Our actions not only affect us but they do affect others around us as well. When one of us is threatened, we are all at risk.
We are all involved in this journey called life; and in order to achieve success, we must be willing to work with others. We must understand and appreciate others regardless of how different they may be from us. We must also identify the people who can work with us, work for us, believe in us, hold us accountable, support us and play key roles in our journey to success.
How different the ending would be if the animals had agreed to work together.
