There was once a colony of mice that, for as long as anyone could remember, had lived in fear of the cat that patrolled the corridors of the house, silent as the wind, deadly as murder.
Ikus, the mice whispered the name with terror and trembling as they scampered about snatching food where they could.
One night, as they often did, the mice gathered in the attic, and discussed the cat. And as always, it seemed that each mouse seemed more interested in recounting their fear of Ikus, and their complete disapproval of the state of things (mice are very timid creatures after all), rather than propose actual solutions. But tonight was different.
Tonight Daung (who called himself ‘the Daring’) spoke up. “You fearful, pitiful mice!” he squeaked ferociously. “No wonder Ikus is so successful at terrorizing this colony! You all scare yourselves silly and do half his job for him!” The mice sat quietly, listening, their noses twitching nervously at the mention of the dread cat’s name.
“But what are we to do?” one mouse squeaked piteously from somewhere in the back. “Yes!” a handful of others agreed, some louder than others. “He stalks so silently!” one cried out. “He pounces so quickly!” squeaked another, as though terrified by his own thoughts.
“We never see him coming!” they all chorused and the meeting broke down into the excited chatter of agitated mice.
“Good mice of Mus,” Daung squeaked loudly and repeatedly until the mice calmed down and fell silent once again. “It appears obvious to me that since the problem is that no one ever sees or hears Ikus coming, the solution is to put a bell on the villain!”
The assembled mice let out a collective gasp at the audacity and sheer good-ness of the idea.“Bell the cat,” Daung squeaked at the top of his voice, pumping a tiny fist into the air. “Bell the cat, and we will always know where he is. And when we know where he is, we no longer have to fear him,” the daring (well, according to him anyway) little mouse proclaimed triumphantly.
A chant of “bell the cat, bell the cat, bell the cat” went up around Daung and spread to the farthest edges of the gathering. The chant went on for a bit until, the oldest mouse in the colony – Oben – squeaked “But who is going to bell the cat?”