A little further down the road, the second little mouse grew very tired. Just then he saw an empty bird’s nest sat in a big, tall tree.
“Look there” the second little mouse yelled “This empty birds nest isn’t to high or to small for my house it’s just right” he said. So with that the third little mouse carried on his journey. Soon, even the third little mouse became tired, and up ahead he spotted a wall made out of stone.
“Aha,” he thought, “that’s exactly what I need to build my house, as it’s strong and tough, just like me.” And so he started to dig into the wall to make his house.
That evening just as the first mouse was settling comfortably in his bed of hay, he heard a rustling outside the house. He easily parted the hay with his hands to look out side, and gulped in fright when he saw the big bad cat looking at him greedily.
“Little mouse, little mouse, will you let me in?”
“I will not let you in,” shuddered the first little mouse
“Then I’ll scratch and I’ll dig and I’ll knock your house down,” said the big bad cat.
And sure enough, he gave a little scratch, and he gave a little dig, and with very little effort he knocked the house down. Before the straw had settled on the ground, the little mouse ran away as fast as his little legs would carry him to the home of the nearest brother.
The next evening, just as the two brothers were sitting down at their table to eat their dinner, they heard scratching and sniffing outside the house. They peeked outside the nest and gasped in alarm when they saw the big bad cat staring up at them hungrily. His stomach rumbled loudly.
“Little mice, little mice, will you let me in?”
“We will not let you in,” trembled the little mice
“Then I’ll scratch and I’ll dig and I’ll knock your house down,” said the big bad cat.
And sure enough, he scratched a bit, and he dug a bit, and with little effort the birds nest came tumbling down, and as soon as the little mice hit the ground they ran away as fast as their little legs would carry them to the home of their brother.
The next evening, just as the three brothers were making the fire to warm their toes, they heard crunching and crashing outside the house. The three little mice peeped their little heads outside, and all shrieked in terror when they saw the big bad cat staring at them ravenously his stomach grumbled even louder, and he was licking his lips with glee at the feast waiting just a short breath away!
“Little mice, little mice, will you let me in?”
“We will not let you in,” they replied
“Then I’ll scratch and I’ll dig and I’ll knock your house down,” said the big bad cat.
And sure enough, he scratched, and he dug, and tried to knock the house down. But the house didn’t fall down. So he scratched some more, and he dug some more, but still the house wouldn’t fall down. So he scratched as much as he could and dug as much as he could and with a mighty effort he tried to knock the house down. But the house stayed up!
With that the big bad cat felt tired so went back to the farm house to get some rest, without any dinner.