City Mouse/Country Mouse

Today I read "The Country Mouse and the City Mouse" to Owen Ray. Of all the stories in our Tall Book of Nursery Tales, this is the one I was the most unfamiliar with. However, I think it's my new favorite.

When the city mouse comes to visit his country cousin he says "You do not live well at all. Why you should see how I live! I have fine things to eat every day." The country mouse is immediately ashamed of his simple home.

In some loosely connected way, this seems to be just where Trey and I are at. This is our first month using the "envelope system" to manage our money. We are having to say "no" to things we've always said "yes" to because it simply isn't in our budget. We have a goal that we want to achieve each month, a particular amount that we plan to pay toward debt. However, this goal requires sacrifice on our part. As I think about our culture of debt and consumerism, I do feel like the little country mouse who is made to feel ashamed that he is living within his means rather than beyond his means.

The end of the story is reassuring, however. After narrowly escaping a frightened cook, a hungry cat, and a tempting trap, the country mouse is sure that the city is not the place for him.

"I think I will go home," he said. "I'd rather have barley and grain and eat it in peace, than have brown sugar and cheese and eat in fear."

While this "nursery tale" is not meant to be a philosophical treatise, I can't help but consider the implications of this conclusion. The country mouse has realized that genuine rest and peace come from enjoying that which we have diligently worked for. The country mouse learns that the nuts, barley, and crumbs he has gathered in preparation for the winter are more satisfying than the brown sugar and dried cherries that his city dwelling cousin steals from the kitchen cupboard at leisure. It is not too much of a stretch to say that the country mouse has learned the truth behind the proverb "Lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring wealth." (Proverbs 10:4)