Long ago, the mice had a general council to consider
what measures they could take to outwit their common
enemy, the Cat. Some said this, and some said that; but at
last a young mouse got up and said he had a proposal to
make, which he thought would meet the case. ‘You will
all agree,’ said he, ‘that our chief danger consists in the sly
and treacherous manner in which the enemy approaches
us. Now, if we could receive some signal of her approach,
we could easily escape from her. I venture, therefore, to
propose that a small bell be procured, and attached by a
ribbon round the neck of the Cat. By this means we
should always know when she was about, and could easily
retire while she was in the neighbourhood.’
This proposal met with general applause, until an old
mouse got up and said: ‘That is all very well, but who is to
bell the Cat?’ The mice looked at one another and nobody
spoke. Then the old mouse said:
‘It is easy to propose impossible remedies.’
Moral Lesson: ‘It is easy to propose impossible remedies.’
―
Aesop
