Inner Practice: How A Mousetrap Can Kill A Cow
Once upon a time there were four great friends – Mouse, Chicken, Pig and Cow. One day they were having coffee together. Suddenly Mouse was very agitated.
He said to everyone, “Today I saw the farmer’s wife received a parcel from the post office. When she opened the parcel, I almost had a heart attack when I saw what was inside. A mousetrap! The farmer’s wife has gotten a mousetrap and I am the only mouse in the house. So that must be meant for me! She is trying to kill me!”
Mouse was so upset he turned to his best friend, Chicken. He said, “Chicken, can you please help me?” Chicken said, “That is none of my business. Mousetrap catches mice, not chicken. Now look after yourself. I don’t know how to help you.” So Chicken did not help Mouse because he thought that he would not be affected by the mousetrap.
So Mouse asked Pig. “Pig, can you help me? I’m really scared because she leaves this mousetrap all over the house and I run everywhere in the house. Certainly it’s a matter of time before I step on it and get myself killed! Can you help me?” And Pig said, “No. Look after yourself, it is none of my business, pig has nothing to do with mousetrap. I am not going to help you.” Because even Pig thought how could a mousetrap do anything to a pig.
And lastly Mouse asked Cow. “Cow, can you help me?” And Cow said, “I can’t help you, look after yourself, it is your business but none of my business. I am too busy munching on grass and doing other cow things. I cannot help you. So none of Mouse’s friends would help because they all thought a mousetrap could not kill a pig, could not kill a chicken and could not kill a cow.
Then one night, Mouse was scurrying around the house and indeed it got caught in the mousetrap and was killed instantly. And because it made a noise, the farmer’s wife got woken up. So she went downstairs to see if she had caught the mouse. But because she was half asleep and it was very dark, she did not see that there was a snake in the house. She trodded on the snake and got bitten. She called for her husband to help and because she was badly bitten, they had to call the doctor to do whatever they could. But still she was very sick. One of the best remedy for sickness is drinking chicken soup. So the farmer got hold of the chicken, cut off its head and made chicken soup. After drinking the chicken soup, the farmer’s wife stabilised but was still very sick. When people were sick, usually friends would come to visit. Because so many friends came to visit the farmer, he had to give them something to eat. So that was the end of the pig. Pig got killed so as to make pork sandwiches for the visitors coming to see his wife. However the farmer’s wife still eventually died. And they had to hold funeral services for her. After the funeral services were done, the relatives and friends that attended had to be given food to thank them for coming. So all that the farmer could do was to kill the cow to feed them.
Because of one mousetrap. It didn’t just kill the mouse. It killed the chicken, the pig, and the cow as well.
Moral of the story: When your friend is in trouble and need your help, don’t ever think that it does not affect me, that it is none of my business and they had to look after themselves.
Be careful.
Because even a mousetrap can kill a cow.