Acity mouse and a country mouse were acquaintances (friends), and the country mouse one day invited his friend to come and see him at his home in the fields. the city mouse came, and they sat down to a dinner of roots. the fare was not much to the taste of the guest, and presently he broke out with "my poor dear friend, you live here no better than the ants. now, you should just see how i fare (live)! you must come and stay with me, and i promise you, you shall live on the fat of the land." so when he returned to the city he took the country mouse with him, and showed him into a pantry containing flour and oatmeal and figs and honey and dates. the country mouse had never seen anything like it, and sat down to enjoy the luxuries his friend provided: but before they had well begun, the door of the larder opened and someone came in. the two mice scampered off and hid themselves in a narrow and exceedingly uncomfortable hole. presently, when all was quiet, they ventured out again; but someone else came in, and off they scuttled again. this was too much for the visitor. "good-bye," said he, "i'm off. you live in the lap of luxury, i can see, but you are surrounded by dangers; whereas at home i can enjoy my simple dinner of roots and corn in peace."

recall the second step in the process to determine theme. why did these events happen in the fable?

These events happen to highlight the moral lesson of the fable.

Explanation:

Fables are small stories in which the characters are animals and present situations that pass us some lesson or teaching. The events that happen in this excerpt, aims to present the teaching that this fable wishes to pass.

Everything that happened in the excerpt happened because Country Mouse needed to realize that although he lived a simpler life and did not have access to the delicious foods that the City Mouse has, he lived in safety and security was something City Mouse did not possessed. Thus, the fable teaches us to be satisfied with what we have. What we have is enough to live happily, even if we do not live in luxury.

arah orne jewett first published "a white heron" in her 1886 collection, "a white heron and other stories." this short story tells the tale of what happens when sylvia, a 9-year-old girl living deep in the forest with her grandmother, meets a young hunter looking to capture, and kill, the white heron living in sylvia's woods. the climax occurs when sylvia must decide whether to him or protect the bird.

rising action

leading up to the climax of the story, the nameless young hunter befriends sylvia and her grandmother, mrs. tilly. he explains to mrs. tilly that he is bent on "stuffing and preserving" a little white heron that he believes lives near their cottage. mrs. tilly offers up that "[t]here ain't a foot o' ground" that sylvia doesn't know and suggests that she may be able to him find the bird.

climax

after following, but not really , the young hunter on his search for the heron, sylvia slips out of bed alone in the middle of the night to find the heron for herself. perched at the top of a gigantic pine tree, sylvia spots the heron, and its nest, in a dead hemlock tree across the way. the following morning she returns home to find her grandmother and the hunter waiting for her at the door. in the moment when she plans to tell the hunter where to find the heron, she suddenly decides to protect the heron and remain silent; even the promise of much needed money does not sway her.

explanation: