Atondido Stories
ones, if the father is too far off to protect them.
The lizard loved to lie and bask in the sunshine, catching the
flies on which he lived, lying so still that they did not notice him,
and darting out his long tongue suddenly to suck them into his
mouth. Yet he hid from the owl and the cat, because he knew full
well that, tough though he was, they would gobble him up if
they happened to be hungry. He made his home amongst the
roots on the south side of the tree where it was hottest, but the
mouse had his hole on the other side amongst damp moss and
dead leaves. The mouse was in constant fear of the cat and the
owl. He knew that both of them could see in the dark, and he
would have no chance of escape if they once caught sight of him.
The lizard and the mouse could only get food in daylight;
but the lizard did not have to go far for the flies on which he
lived, whilst the mouse had a very dangerous journey to take to
his favourite feeding place. This was a barley field a short dis-
tance from the banyan tree, where he loved to nibble the full
ears, running up the stalks to get at them. The mouse was the
only one of the four creatures in the banyan tree who did not
feed on others; for, like the rest of his family, he was a vegetari-
an, that is to say, he ate nothing but vegetables and fruit.
Now the cat knew full well how fond the mouse was of the
barley-field, and she used to keep watch amongst the tall stems,
creeping stealthily about with her tail in the air and her green
eyes glistening, expecting any moment to see the poor little
mouse darting hastily along. The cat never dreamt that any dan-
ger could come to her, and she trod down the barley, making
quite a clear path through it. She was quite wrong in thinking
herself so safe, for that path got her into very serious trouble.
It so happened that a hunter, whose great delight was to kill
wild creatures, and who was very clever in finding them,
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