The Mouse Gets Married （老鼠娶亲）
Once there was a mouse whose daughter had come of age and was ready to get married. When the mother mouse asked her daughter who she would like to marry, she replied, “Whoever is most powerful is who I will marry!”
The mother believed the sun to be the most powerful, so she went to the sun and said, “Sun, my daughter would like to marry whoever is most powerful. Since I believe that to be you, I’d like you to marry my daughter.”
On hearing this, the sun immediately shook its head and said, “I’m not the most powerful. I still fear the cloud. As soon as he shows up, he blocks all my rays. It’s the cloud that’s most powerful. You should go look for him.”
This sounded reasonable to the mother, so she went and found the cloud. To her surprise, however, he also said, “I’m definitely not the most powerful. The most powerful is the wind. He can blow me away without leaving a trace. You should have him marry your daughter.”
When the mother met with the wind he said, “I’m not the one you’re looking for. The wall is without a doubt more powerful than I. He can stop me in my tracks and hold me back!”
So the mother rushed to find the wall and said, “I suggested that my daughter marry the sun who is afraid of the cloud, then the cloud who fears the wind, and later, the wind who is scared of you. Therefore it must you who is most powerful. You should marry my daughter.”
With a smile, the wall said, “I’m also afraid of many things. As a matter of fact, what I fear most of all are mice. The holes they burrow can be devastating!
Running home the mother mouse sighed and said to her daughter, “I think you’d better marry a mouse!”
