The Mouse trap in Freetown

Published on August 20, 2010 by Cocorioko News · 1 Comment

Few days ago, COCORIOKO and WE YONE newspapers published a warning to the Sierra Leonean people, so to speak, that certain overambitious and unpatriotic politicians are plotting not to accept the results of the Presidential Elections in 2012 , and in the wake of their wilful refusal to accept the people’s mandate, plan to stir up big chaos in the country that would bring Sierra Leone to her knees once again, prompt international intervention and lead to calls from the International Community for a coalition government . The troublemakers, who want power at all costs , by their nefarious action, think they can deny the All People’s Congress ( APC ) Government their deserved second term .

Chaos , of any type , will not serve the interests of the Sierra Leonean people. We publish an interesting but eye-opening fable below to educate the intended troublemakers that what they are planning will affect only poor, innocent Sierra Leoneans once again. For those Sierra Leoneans also who might think that we are just trying to be alarmists, we want to warn them to beware. What the errant politicians are planning to do should not concern the government in power alone ; it should concern everybody. We beseech Sierra Leoneans to read this story below with all seriousness and heed the moral lesson behind it. We say no more. READ :

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer 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 this warning :
”There is a mousetrap in the house!
There is a mousetrap in the house!”

The chicken clucked and scratched,   raised her head and said, “Mr. Mouse,
I can tell this is a grave concern to you,
but it is of no consequence to me.
I cannot be bothered by it.”

The mouse turned to the pig and told him, “There is a 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 cow and said, “There is a mousetrap in the house!
There is a mousetrap in the house!”

The cow 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 and dejected,
to face the farmer’s mousetrap
. . . Alone. . .
That very night a sound was heard throughout the house
– the sound Of a mousetrap catching its prey.
The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught.
In the darkness, she did no see it.
It was a venomous snake
whose tail was caught in the trap.
The snake bit the farmer’s wife.

The farmer rushed her to the hospital.

When she returned home she still had 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.
Friends and neighbors
came to sit with her
around the clock.
To feed them,
the farmer butchered the pig.
But, alas,
the farmer’s wife did not get well…
She died.
So many people came for her funeral
that the farmer had the cow slaughtered
to provide enough meat for all of them
for the funeral luncheon.
And the mouse looked upon it all
from his crack in the wall
with great sadness.

So, the next time you hear
someone is facing a problem
and you think it doesn’t concern you,
remember —
When one of us is threatened, we are all at risk.
We are all involved in this journey called life.
We must keep an eye out for one another…