The Mouse and the Cake
August 30, 1976
Highland Park, Ill.
Dear Shelly,
Sorry I didn’t write to you earlier, but now is the time. You will remember Rosie my sister. Well, She is being operated on for the removal of an aneurysm in her head. It is a very serious operation and we are all hoping she will come out well.
Chucky is going to Ravinia to hear an all Gershwin concert.
Selma and her two children, Robbie and Josh are visiting with us for the last month, while Selma and Sandy went off to travel in Spain. We have two dogs in the yard. They bark like a dozen and eat unlimited. Josh’s dog has to be chained to a post. Otherwise he eats all of Sheba’s meal.
The Mouse and the Cake
by Eliza Cook
A mouse found a beautiful piece of plum cake
The richest and sweetest that mortal could make
‘T’was heavy with citron and fragrant with spice
And covered with sugar all sparkling as ice.
“My stars,” cried the mouse while his eye beamed with glee
Here’s a treasure I found. What a feast it will be!
So I’ll hide with the cake lest they wander this way
Not a bit shall they have for I know I can eat
Every morsel myself and I’ll have such a treat.
So off went the mouse, as he held the cake fast
While his hungry young brothers went scampering past
He nibbled and nibbled, and panted, but still,
He kept gulping it down ‘till he made himself ill ~
Yet he swallowed it all, and ‘tis easy to guess
He was soon so unwell that he groaned with distress
His family heard him, and as he grew worse,
They sent for a doctor who made him rehearse
How he’d eaten the cake to the very last crumb
Without giving his playmates and relatives some.
“Ah me,” cried the doctor, advice is too late
You must die before long, so prepare for your fate.
If you had but divided the cake with your brothers,
It would have done you no harm, and been good for the others.
Had you shared it, the treat had been wholesome enough
But eaten by one, it was dangerous stuff!
So prepare for the worst…” and the word had scarce fled,
When the doctor turned around and the patient was dead.
Now all little people the lesson may take
And some larger ones may learn from the mouse and the cake
Not to be over-selfish with what we may gain
Or the best of our pleasures may turn into pain.
We are happy to learn that you are getting along well. I still think that I will kidnap you from all the friends and relations and take you off to Israel.
Yours truly, Dad
Shelly Reuben is an Edgar-nominated author, private detective, and fire investigator. For more about her books, visit shellyreuben.com
Copyright © 2009, Shelly Reuben
Highland Park, Ill.
Dear Shelly,
Sorry I didn’t write to you earlier, but now is the time. You will remember Rosie my sister. Well, She is being operated on for the removal of an aneurysm in her head. It is a very serious operation and we are all hoping she will come out well.
Chucky is going to Ravinia to hear an all Gershwin concert.
Selma and her two children, Robbie and Josh are visiting with us for the last month, while Selma and Sandy went off to travel in Spain. We have two dogs in the yard. They bark like a dozen and eat unlimited. Josh’s dog has to be chained to a post. Otherwise he eats all of Sheba’s meal.
The Mouse and the Cake
by Eliza Cook
A mouse found a beautiful piece of plum cake
The richest and sweetest that mortal could make
‘T’was heavy with citron and fragrant with spice
And covered with sugar all sparkling as ice.
“My stars,” cried the mouse while his eye beamed with glee
Here’s a treasure I found. What a feast it will be!
So I’ll hide with the cake lest they wander this way
Not a bit shall they have for I know I can eat
Every morsel myself and I’ll have such a treat.
So off went the mouse, as he held the cake fast
While his hungry young brothers went scampering past
He nibbled and nibbled, and panted, but still,
He kept gulping it down ‘till he made himself ill ~
Yet he swallowed it all, and ‘tis easy to guess
He was soon so unwell that he groaned with distress
His family heard him, and as he grew worse,
They sent for a doctor who made him rehearse
How he’d eaten the cake to the very last crumb
Without giving his playmates and relatives some.
“Ah me,” cried the doctor, advice is too late
You must die before long, so prepare for your fate.
If you had but divided the cake with your brothers,
It would have done you no harm, and been good for the others.
Had you shared it, the treat had been wholesome enough
But eaten by one, it was dangerous stuff!
So prepare for the worst…” and the word had scarce fled,
When the doctor turned around and the patient was dead.
Now all little people the lesson may take
And some larger ones may learn from the mouse and the cake
Not to be over-selfish with what we may gain
Or the best of our pleasures may turn into pain.
We are happy to learn that you are getting along well. I still think that I will kidnap you from all the friends and relations and take you off to Israel.
Yours truly, Dad
Shelly Reuben is an Edgar-nominated author, private detective, and fire investigator. For more about her books, visit shellyreuben.com
Copyright © 2009, Shelly Reuben
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