Brody was a curious and adventurous mouse who lived in Montana. One day he and the other mice in his colony were out playing, running and chasing each other, when they came to the shore of a river.
“Why don’t we cross that river and explore the meadow on the other side?” Brody suggested.
His friends didn’t like the idea. “Other mice that tried to cross the river were swept away by the strong current and were never seen again,” they said.
But Brody knew it could be done, because he’d seen the beaver crossing the river many times. So, he approached the beaver.
“Will you teach me how to swim, so I can cross the river and explore the meadow on other side?” Brody asked.
The beaver agreed to teach the mouse how to swim. Day after day they swam, starting in shallow pools of still water and eventually graduating to deeper, swifter water.
Finally, after weeks of training, the beaver said, “Today is the day for you to swim the river.”
Brody swam the river with the beaver beside him. The mouse’s hard work paid off, and he reached the other side.
For the rest of the day, the mouse ran, explored and played in the meadow. As the sun came down, he swam back across the river and told his friends about his adventures.
“We thought you had drowned,” said the other mice. Then they cheered and had a party celebrating Brody’s success.
Some time later, all the mice in the colony came up to a very high cliff.
“Why don’t we climb that cliff and explore the other side of the mountain,” Brody said.
“We can’t climb,” said one mouse. “Others that tried have fallen to their death.”
“It’s haunted up there,” said another. “You’ll turn into a stick if you climb to the other side.”
But Brody had seen bighorn sheep climbing it many times, so he approached a sheep and asked what was on the other side.
“Beautiful country,” the bighorn said. “I go there all the time.”
“Will you teach me how to climb, so I can climb the cliff and explore the other side?” Brody asked.
The bighorn sheep agreed, and day after day they climbed, starting in smaller steps and eventually graduating to steeper rocks.
Finally after weeks of training, the bighorn said, “You’re ready to climb the cliff.”
Brody climbed the cliff with the bighorn beside him. The mouse’s hard work paid off and they reached the top.
For the rest of the day Brody ran, explored and played on the other side of the mountain. As the sun set, he climbed back down the cliff and told his friends about his adventures.
“We thought you turned into a stick,” said the other mice. They cheered and had a party celebrating his success.
Brody discovered that taking risks could be dangerous. He also learned that listening to experts for advice could turn those risks into great rewards.
Buscrat’s Fables are simple stories that teach a moral. Buscrat welcomes you to visit buscratsfables.com for more fables, and welcomes your comments, suggestions and requests.
