The Crow and the Rat

By William M. Balsamo

In a small village not far from a small town there was a small farm. The farmer was poor and lived alone with his wife. Not far from their house there was a worn-down old barn with slabs of wood missing for the doors and windows creaked on rusted hinges.

Inside the barn it was bare with the exception of two inhabitants, a rat and a crow. They had known each other for many years and called one another "brother", but they were hardly friends at all and always caught up in quarrels to see who was cleverer than the other.

Ï am far smarter than you," boasted the crow to the rat. Ï can figure out things even before they ever happen!

"Ha!"said the rat, Ï can foresee the results of what happens even before they ever occur."

Both the rat and the crow were smug in their intelligence and were proud that they could both survive on their wits, but rather than seeing themselves as equals, they each insisted on being far brighter than the other.

Every day they tried to trick the farmer by finding ways to eat the food he grew and the fruit of his labor. They both thought the farmer to be stupid because he ws old and poor.

Í can fly over his farm and see the ripest ears of corn in his field, "Boasted the crow, "Then I can swoop down and eat the sweetest corn before the farmer can harvest it!"

The rat then questioned, “But how about the man who is always standing watch in the field? Won't he catch you someday?"

"Ha!," cried the crow, "How stupid you are! That’s 'not a man! It's a scarecrow. It has no brains and cannot move. The farmer put it in the field to scare me but I am not so foolish!""

The crow was haughty and very self-centered, and the rat at times could not hold back his dislike for his feathered friend.

The rat however, was not without his own boast.

"Yes, it is true that you can fly but I can enter the farmer's house by crawling through the narrow cracks in the walls. You can eat the corn in the fields, but I have all the food in the farmer's pantry. Besides, when the farmer's wife sees you she is only annoyed, but when she sees me her heart is filled with fear. She sees you by day, but I can hide from her at night". I am far smarter than you.""

All the other animals on the farm were also annoyed at the crow and fearful of the rat. Every day they had to listen to the crow's ugly "caw, caw" and the squeaky noise of the rat scurrying through the barn.

The wise old owl that lived in the rafters of the barn listened carefully to the boasting of the crow and the rat and said to the other birds that made their nests in the barn, “The rat and the crow may be very smart but they are not very wise. For what is intelligence but to know how to be humble?"

The clever fox that lived in the nearby woods also heard the conversations of the rat and the crow and said to the hedgehog that lived in the ground in the forest, “Yes, the crow and the rat are very smart but it is better to be clever. For what is intelligence if it lacks common sense?">

The bashful rabbit who hid in the cabbage fields and tried to steal a carrot from the ground also listened to the crow and the rabbit and said to himself, "Why is it so important to be smart? Smart people often make stupid mistakes. It is better to be quite and shy and just listen to the voice inside your heart"

But as time passed the rat and the crow had become a nuisance to the farmer and his wife. One day the farmer’s wife said to the farmer, "We must do something about that rat. He is eating too much of our grain. Today I went into the cupboard and I found that so much of our grain had been eaten by the rat. We must do something about it."

"Yes," said the farmer, "And the crow is also a pest! He is eating too much of our corn. Today I went into the field and I found that so much of the corn had been eaten. We must not permit this to continue." So, together the farmer and his wife decided that something had to be done. They sat down by the fire and thought for a long time. Finally, just as the last embers of the fireplace were about to be extinguished the Farmer said to his wife. “I got an idea and I think it will work.�EWhen he said this he looked at his wife and she smiled at him and said. “Yes, I think I know what must be done. We must do it quickly."

One evening the crow entered the barn to look for the rat. They often had the habit of meeting at night to boast of what they had done during the day and to show off who was the smarter of the two.

When he entered the barn, he had hoped to see the rat but instead he heard a moaning and a groaning.

"Ooooo, help me, Brother crow, I am badly hurt and suffering...."

The crow flew over to where he had heard the cry and saw the rat caught in a trap which the farmer had set during the day for his capture. It was a large trap which had sprung when the rat went to eat the piece of cheese set for bait.

"Oh, help me!" pleaded the rat, "I was so foolish to fall for such a trick and I was caught in the trap which the farmer had set for me."

The crow showed little pity for the rat. Instead he began to caw in contempt,

"Ha! I told you that you were stupid! You fell right into the trap! Ha! I would never be so stupid as to do something like that!"

When he said this the crow spread his wings and flapped them wildly to show a triumph over the rat!

Oh, don't make fun of me!' sighed the rat feebly, I am dying". My back has been broken and I cannot move. Please open the trap with your powerful beak so I can go free."

Ï will not," said the crow. “In life we must pay for the foolish things we do and what you did was most stupid indeed. Besides with your injury do you think you can crawl very far?"

The voice of the rat became more and more feeble and his eyes became dimmer and dimmer. “Please, Brother Rat, now I know that you are smarter than I, but at least have pity on me!">

The crow looked at the rat with cold eyes which showed no love or mercy. The rat gasped and could no longer speak; he put his head down until he finally breathed his last and remained still.

The crow had no pity and no remorse. His heart was so cold and his soul so proud. He looked at the rat and the trap and noticed the piece of cheese which the farmer had left for bait. The trap had snapped so quickly that the rat had no time to eat the cheese.

The crow moved quickly and seized the piece of cheese eating it in one gulp. "Now the cheese is mine!" he said with self-satisfaction.

Suddenly he felt an awful burning in his throat. The burning went down in to his stomach and he was filled with a tremendous thirst. The crow flew out of the barn to the pond near the farmer’s house to quench his thirst but his wings became feeble and he could not fly straight. He reached the edge of the pond and began to bleed from his throat. "What is happening to me? I am in so much pain."

The proud and clever crow did not know how strong was the poison which the farmer had placed on the cheese and death was near.

The crow was in such agony that he crowed his last caw and cried desperately for help. It was a frightening caw heard by all the animals on the farm. They all knew that it was a cry of distress. The cawing grew louder at first and then weakened until it began a pathetic gasp which echoed across the fields of corn and disappeared into the clouds.

(1,456 words)