A large cat arrived at a farm where many mice lived. None of them dared¹ go outside for fear of being caught by the cat.

The mice decided² to hold a meeting to find a way of stopping themselves from being in danger. Oneday, when the cat was out, mice of all ages rushed into the meeting room.

“Let's build a big trap,” one mouse suggested. When this idea was refused, another said, “What about poisoning⁴ her?” But nobody knew where to buy the poison³. One young mouse,whose mother had become the cat's food, angrily said, “Let's cut her teeth, so she can do no more harm,” But the meeting did not accept his idea. At last, one mouse, wiser than the rest, jumped onto a table. Waving a bell, he called for silence. “Be quiet! We'll tie this bell to cat's tail, so we'll always know where she is! We'll have time to escape, and the slower and weaker mice will hear her coming and he able to hide!” Hearing the words, everyone got excited and they congratulated him on his good idea.

We'll tie it so tightly⁵ that it will never dropped!”

“She'll never be able to walk quietly again! Why, the other day, she suddenly appeared right in front of me! Just imagine....”

However, the wise mouse said, “We must decide who is going to tie it on her tail.” There was not a sound in the room. Nobody was brave enough to put the plan into action.The meeting ended without any decision being made.

It's often very easy to have bright ideas, but putting them into practice is a more difficult matter.

文章大意：一只大猫来到了一个老鼠聚居的农场。老鼠们都不敢出去，因为怕被猫抓住。老鼠们决定召开会议，试图找出一个不让自己陷入危险的方法。一天，猫外出了，老鼠们便蜂拥而至到会议室开会。

“我们建一个陷阱吧，”其中一只老鼠提议道。当这个提议被否决时，另外一只老鼠说：“要不我们毒死她？”但是没有人知道去哪里买毒药。有一只小老鼠，它的妈妈已经成了猫的盘中餐，它很生气地说道：“我们割断她的牙齿，这样她就再也不能伤害我们了。”但是与会者没有通过它的提议。最后，一只比其它任何老鼠都要聪明的老鼠跳到桌子上，摇动着铃铛，要求大家静下来，说道：“安静！我们把这个铃铛系到猫的尾巴上，这样我们就可以知道她在哪里了！这样一来我们就有足够的时间逃跑了，行动缓慢和身体弱的老鼠听到她来了的声音就可以趁机躲起来！”听完它说的话，大家都很兴奋，它们向它表示祝贺，因为它想出了这个好主意！

“我们会把铃铛系得紧紧的，让它永远也掉不下来。”

“猫以后再也不能轻声地走路了。前几天，她突然出现在我的面前，想象一下这个画面……”

但是，那只聪明的老鼠接着说了：“我们现在决定一下由谁来负责把铃铛系在猫的尾巴上。”会议室突然安静下来了，没有人足够勇敢去把这个计划付诸行动。会议没有做出任何决定就这样结束了。

想到好办法并不难，难的是要把它付诸于行动。