Three Laughing Mice

The First Laughing Mouse

As told by Zariya, the Master of Mirth

"The first mouse loved to play in the sunshine, dashing through the grass and peering under rocks to see what lived there. They were a happy and carefree mouse, who laughed easily; at least when the weather was fine.

But one day the weather was not fine. It was chilly, and rainy, and dim. The first mouse poked their nose out and frowned at the rain and the mud, and found nothing to laugh about. They tried to play in the rain, but the mud was too muddy, and the rain too wet. Disgusted, they returned to their burrow and complained to their parent about the weather.

"Try laughing while you play" advised their parent. And the first mouse was obedient, but didn't see why they should. They went back out into the rain, and forced a laugh. It sounded foolish, but they tried again. This time it sounded silly, and the first mouse laughed a little at that. Soon enough, the laughter was real.

And the first mouse found that the rain wasn't so cold after all. And the mud was muddy - but it was fun to splash in. And under the rocks and in the grass were animals they had never seen before, long worms that squirmed and wriggled and made the mouse giggle to watch them. They were having fun, despite the rain and the chill, and played until it was time for dinner.

At dinner, the first mouse asked their parent why laughing while they played made the world fun again. And their parent replied "It's not the world that became fun. Laughing changed the way you looked at it, and so you were able to find the fun. That's one reason that we try to laugh - you can see the world as better when you do."

The Second Laughing Mouse

As told by Skopgaldur, the Master of Ridicule

"Now, not long ago there was a mouse in the north, who was bigger and braver than the other mice, and who was a chief of all the other mice nearby. He was strong and much admired, and the other mice honored him greatly. He was given the best food of all the mice, and could choose his mates as he liked. It was a good life, being the chief of the mice.

Now, that mouse hated cats. He hated them beyond all reason, and wished nothing more than to kill a cat and use its skin as a rug, that he could lay upon to show that he was greater than any cat. But while he was bigger and stronger than the other mice, he was no match for the cats - even their kittens were too dangerous for a mouse. But he believed that he could get his catskin rug; he just needed to have a dozen or more mice to fight with him in order to make it happen.

He spoke eloquently to the other mice about battling a cat. He said it would show the cats they were strong, and that killing one of the cats would make the mice safer. He spoke of glory and of legend, and how the mice who killed a cat would be immortal - how they would become the greatest of all mice, and perhaps even the gods of mice.

The second mouse listened to the chief talk, and watched his friends and family around him begin to nod. He knew that the battle with the cat would not be the glorious fight the chief promised - he had faced cats before, and had seen their speed, and strength, and size. The second mouse knew that even if the chief and his followers succeeded at killing the cat, it would be at a great price in blood and lives, and would gain nothing but a rotting skin.

So the second mouse laughed. His laugh was mocking. It was scornful. It was cruel. His laughter stopped the speech of the chief, and all the mice stared, uncertain why the second mouse was laughing. So he explained. This must be a great joke of the chief mouse. It was absurd - it was ridiculous. Only a fool would propose it in seriousness, and only a villain would sacrifice lives in such a prank. The chief stared angrily at the second mouse, and was about to speak when another mouse laughed. "I see it; I see the joke now. Ha-ha!". The laughter filled the burrow, and the chief saw he had lost them. They would not follow him to battle a cat now - not while laugher filled the air. He turned and left the burrow, humiliated. He was never seen there again."

The Third Laughing Mouse

As told by Zahak, the Master of Defiance

"The third laughing mouse was not a hero. They were a mouse like other mice, and lived as other mice did. They gathered food for their family, and they loved and raised children, and they never did anything that set them apart from the mice around them.

One day, the third mouse was out in the field when they scented something dangerous. The wind had shifted, and suddenly brought the smell of a cat to them - and it was too close, far too close. The mouse tried to run, but the cat was upon it in an instant, pinning the third mouse under one paw and grinning down at them. The cat played with the third mouse a while - letting it go a short way before trapping them again, always maintaining control of the situation while the mouse panicked. Finally, the third mouse knew there would be no escape. There would be no rescue, and no miracle would happen to save them.

And then the mouse laughed. It turned and stared the cat down and laughed in the face of death. The cat was startled - this was not the way mice should behave. The laugh ended the cat's desire to play, and they struck the mouse a final time. Silence followed. The third mouse was dead, and the cat ate it quickly, wishing to put the strange laughter behind them. But that cat never forgot the mouse who laughed, and told the tale to the other cats, and wondered at how the mouse could laugh at its destruction. The third mouse is still spoken of by the cats, and accorded a strange honor by them, for the temerity to laugh in the face of death. And so it was that the third mouse died.