Kingdom of Many Mice

Folktale of Tibet

Once a long time ago in Tibet there was a kingdom in which lived many mice. One year the crops were very poor and the mice found that there was little spare grain left after the harvest for them. Their stored were depleted even before the end of winter. The leader of the mice went to see the king. He asked the king to lend the mice a barn full of grain and promised to repay the loan by the next harvest.

“If I were to give you the grain, how will you carry it away?” asked the king.

“That is no matter,” replied the leader of the mice.” We will carry it away.”

So the king gave the mice one of his great granaries full of barley. He ordered his officers to throw the doors open and let the mice carry away as much as they wanted.

That night the mice invaded the barn. Each one picked up as many grains as he could carry in his mouth, on his back and curled up on his tail. When the mice had finished the barn was empty and not a single grain of barley was left. Next morning the king was surprised to see that the mice had been able to empty the barn so efficiently. He formed a very high opinion of their powers. The following spring when the mice honoured their promise by repaying the loan with interest the king’s opinion of mice grew even higher.

One day the powerful king on the other side of the river decided to invade the kingdom of many mice, with a huge army.

The leader of the mice went again to see their king. He asked for one hundered thousand sticks, each about a foot long, laid in rows on the bank of the river. In return for defeating the powerful army he asked the king to banish cats from the kingdom and to build a dam along the riverbank so that when it flooded it would not enter the homes of the mice. The king had already learned to respect the mice and did not make the mistake of underestimating them. He agreed.

The following evening the mice launched the sticks into the river and sailed across to the other side where most of the enemy soldiers were asleep. The mice scattered themselves around the camp and destroyed as much as they could; some nibbled bow strings and slings of the muskets, some gnawed fuses, some bit off the clothes and pigtails of the sleeping men. Soon tents, stores and provisions were reduced to shreds and scattered in every direction. Then they returned to their homes on the other side of the river without the enemy knowing they had been.

The next morning the enemy soldiers awoke to find their clothes in rags, pigtails cut off, rifles without slings, no provisions, no breakfast. Each one accused the other of theft and treachery. The camp was in a state of confusion. Then from the opposite bank a few shots were fired. The soldiers were terrified at being attacked in their sorry state. The army retreated. The king of the kingdom of many mice sent a herald across to the leader of the powerful army. On this occasion, he said, he showed restraint by sending only his mice to defeat his enemy but if he were threatened again he would use the powerful beasts in his kingdom and if necessary he would come himself with his brave warriors. The enemy king decided to make peace.

The mice were happy. Their king kept his promise to banish cats and dam the river. And as well as that every year the mice received a barn full of grain from the king in recognition of the service they had rendered in time of need.

From Folktales of Tibet, Synergy Books International
Published in Swag of Yarns spring 2004