All the mice met together in a council¹ against a fierce² cat. "We cannot live because of the cat. There must be some ideas to get rid of it." "Please tell us your ideas."

But despite the enthusiastic discussion³, they were unable to come up with a good idea. The oldest mouse advised the other mice, "It would be nice if someone let us know when the cat is coming." Having no good ideas, they were just studying each other's facial⁴ expressions.

At that time, the youngest mouse confidently said, "If we tie a bell around the cat's neck, we will know when the cat is approaching so we can run away." Everyone agreed to the young mouse's opinion.

Then, the leader mouse replied, "That is a good idea. If we tie a bell to the cat, we will be able to run away in advance. But, who is going to tie a bell to the cat?"

After hearing the leader, all the mice became quiet. No one wanted to tie a bell to the cat. The young mouse that offered the idea slowly read the others' faces and left the meeting.