A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see thefarmer and his wife open a package.

What food might this contain?" The mouse wondered -he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed thewarning:

There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrapin the house!"

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head andsaid, " Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is ofno consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it."

The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There isa mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"

The pig sympathized, but said, I am so very sorry, Mr.Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray.

Be assured you are in my prayers."

The mouse turned to the bull and said "There is amousetrap in the ho use! There is a mousetrap in the house!"

The bull said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse. I'm sorry for you,but it's no skin off my nose."

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down anddejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap alone.

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house --like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey.

The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In thedarkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap hadcaught.

The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her tothe hospital, and she returned home with a fever.

Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup,so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient.

But his wife's sickness continued, so friends andneighbors came to sit with her around the clock.

To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.

The farmer's wife did not get well; she died.

So many people came for her funeral; the farmer had thebull slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.

The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wallwith great sadness.

So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problemand think it doesn't concern you, remember -- when one of us is threatened, weare all at risk.

We are all involved in this journey called life. We mustkeep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another.