The mouse and the camel

A LITTLE mouse once caught in its paws a camel's head-rope. Because of the nimbleness with which the camel set off along with him the mouse was duped into thinking himself a champion.

The camel could see how bold the mouse when he was running as if he was the leader of the procession. The camel thought to himself, "Go on, enjoy yourself. I will show you!"

Presently the mouse came to the margin of a great river, such as would have cast down any lion or wolf. There the mouse halted, struck all of a heap.

The camel prodded the mouse gently with one of his hooves, and said, "Why this standing still? Into the river with you! You are my guide and leader, aren't you? Do not halt half-way, paralysed!"

"But camel, this is a vast and deep river," said the mouse. "If I go in, I would be drowned."

"Let me see how deep the water is," said the camel, and quickly set foot in it. "The water only comes up to my knee. Blind mouse, why were you dismayed? Why did you lose your head?"

"To you this river is an ant, but to me it is a dragon," said the mouse. "There are great differences between one knee and another. If it only reaches your knee, clever camel, but it passes a hundred cubits over my head."

"Be not so arrogant another time," said the camel.

"For God's sake get me across this deadly water!"

"Listen," said the camel, taking compassion on the mouse. "Jump up and sit on my hump. This passage has been entrusted to me; I would take across hundreds of thousands like you."

If one is not a captain, one should not steer the ship.

Muthmaina