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 distance 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 vegetarian, 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 danger 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, noticing every
little thing which could shew him where they had passed by, came
one day into the barley-field. He spied the path directly and cried,
"Ha! ha! Some wild animal has been here; not a very big one; let's
have a look for the footprints!" So he stooped down to the ground,
and very soon saw the marks of pussy's feet. "A cat, I do believe,"
he said to himself, "spoiling the barley she doesn't want to eat
herself. I'll soon pay her out." The hunter waited until the evening
lest the creature should see what he was going to do, and then in the