there were many mice1 in a house. the man of the house got2 a cat. the cat killed3 many of the mice.
then the oldest mouse said4, " all mice must come to my hole tonight, and we will think what we can do about this cat.’
all the mice came5. many mice spoke6, but none7 knew what to do. at last a young mouse stood8 up and said, "we must put a bell on the cat. then, when the cat comes near, we shall9 hear the bell and run away and hide10. so the cat will not catch any * mice.’
then the old mouse asked, " who will put the bell on the cat?"
no mouse answered.
he waited; but still no one answered.
at last he said, "it is not hard to say things; but it is harder to do them."
房屋里有许多老鼠，房主找来一只猫，这只猫吃掉了很多老鼠。
这时，*老的一只老鼠就说：“今天晚上，所有的老鼠必须到我的洞里来，我们要想点办法，怎样来对付这只猫。”
所有的老鼠都来了，许多老鼠都发言了，但是，谁也不知道该怎么办。*后，有一只年轻的老鼠站起来说：“我们必须在猫的身上安放一个铃，这样一来，当猫走近时，我们就会听到*，跑开躲起来，这样，猫就再也抓不到老鼠了。”这时，年纪大的老鼠说：“谁去给猫身上安铃呢？没有一只老鼠回答。
它等了一会儿，仍然没人回答。
*后，它说：“说起来容易，但做起来难啊。”
__