Two Mice

"At the end of the first century AD, the critic Quintilian, said, 'satura quidem tota nostra est," said Laluna while opening a message she received, after saying Basmalah and Salaam. "'Satire at least, is totally ours,' that's roughly what Quintilian meant. He was referring to a specific genre of poetry, not to what we might call ‘the satiric spirit’. The latter, as one would expect, is found in many areas of Greek literature, for example, the Homeric parodies, the lampoons of Archilochus, Aesop’s fables, the comedies of Aristophanes, and Lucian’s dialogues. It also occurs in a number of Roman writers who are not ‘satirists’, notably Lucretius, Ovid, and Tacitus. Conversely, satura, though usually in some sense satirical, is not invariably so. With Horace’s description of his education, Persius’ acknowledgement of his debt to Cornutus, and Juvenal’s passage on human sympathy we are given a respite from the ridicule of folly and vice.

If originality is thought of as the invention of new genres, then Lucilius had no rival in Latin literature. Horace, the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus—also known as Octavian—inherits from Lucilius the hexameter. The victims of Horace's mockery are not members of the nobility, but overly ambitious freedmen, anonymous misers, courtesans, street philosophers, hired buffoons, and bad poets. Horace consciously does not get involved in the complicated politics of his times, advocates instead a life that focuses on individual happiness and virtue.

I was interested in a piece of Horace's poem, which describes, Cervius telling an old wives' tales, about two mice. Then, how the story goes? Like food been frozen in the freezer, we need to reheat it up, and by mixing various kitchen spices such as palm oil, chili, onions, salt, sugar and tomato sauce, after beeing cooked (or crooked!?), the story served like this,

They who appear to have been men of the best sense amongst the ancients, always recommended the country as the most proper scene for innocence, ease, and virtuous pleasure; and, accordingly, lost no opportunities of enjoying it: and men of the greatest distinction among the moderns have ever thought themselves most happy, when they could be decently spared from the employments which the excellency of their talents necessarily threw them into, to embrace the charming leisure of a country life.

It's said, a town mouse—a con artist who wanted to be a comedian—on a trip to the country, met a country mouse—a retired comedian, who lived in a village and became a Chief village. There was something interesting about this retired comedian, he had been attacked by the Bear, because he no longer wanted to pay the security fee, which had been done by the previous Chiefs. This commotion made Uncles and Aunts around the village, persuading the Bear, to stop attacking, but the Bear, replied, 'What a fool!'

And so, life goes on, the two mice—apparently, were the same : suppressing the leaders of the struggle for freedom of speech—spent the day together and became friends. The country mouse took his new friend into the meadows and vegetable gardens—and of course, not to forget, wheat, making him sample all the good things of the land. Never having seen the beauties of the countryside, the town mouse was thrilled, though the country mouse’s plain food wasn’t nearly as fine as his own usual meals. To thank his friend for the lovely outing, he invited the country mouse to visit him in the town. And when the country mouse saw the pantry at his friend’s house, full of hams, cheese, oil, flour, honey, jam and stacks of other goodies, he stood speechless with surprise.

'I’ve never seen anything like it! Are all those wonderful things for eating?'

'Of course!' came the re-ply. 'You’re my guest, so tuck in!' They began to feast, while the country mouse tried not to stuff himself. He wanted to taste everything before finding his tummy full.

'You’re the luckiest mouse I’ve ever met!' said the country mouse to his town brother.

The town mouse was listening with delight to his friend’s praise, when suddenly, the sound of heavy footsteps interrupted their feast.

'Run for it!' whispered the town mouse to his friend. They were just in time: for within an inch of them stood the lady of the house’s large foot. Luckily, the lady went away and the two mice returned to enjoy their meal, so rudely interrupted.

'It’s all right! Come on!' said the town mouse. 'Don’t worry. She’s gone. Now for the honey! It’s delicious! Have you ever tasted it?'

'Yes, once, a long time ago,' the country mouse lied, trying to sound casual. But when he tasted it, he exclaimed, 'Scrumptious! By the King of Mice! I ve never eaten anything so lovely in all my life!'

Suddenly there came the sound of footsteps, this time thumping heavily. The two mice fled. The man of the house had come to fetch some bottles, and when he saw the spilt honey, he groaned, 'Those ghastly mice again! I thought I’ve got rid of them. I’ll send the cat!' And trembling with terror, the mice hid away. This time it was not only the sudden visit that had given them a fright, it was the man’s awful words. The mice were so scared, they held their breath, making no sound. Then, since all remained quiet, they began to feel braver, and picked up enough courage to leave their hidey-hole.

'We can come out now! There’s nobody here!' the town mouse whispered.

Suddenly, the pantry door creaked, and the two luckless mice froze in fear. Out of the dim light glowed a pair of horrid yellow eyes. A large cat was staring round the room in search of its prey. The country mouse and the town mouse tiptoed silently back to their hidey-hole. They wished their pounding hearts would stop beating, for fear of the cat hearing the noise they made. But, as luck would have it, the cat discovered a juicy sausage. Forgetting why his master had sent him into the pantry, he stopped to eat it. No longer hungry, after that, the cat decided that he might as well leave mouse-hunting for another day. Off he padded, to have forty winks elsewhere. Now, as soon as the country mouse realized that all danger was past, he did not lose a second. He hastily shook hands with his friend, saying, 'Thanks so much for everything! But I must rush off now! I can’t stand all these shocks! I’s far rather sit down to a meal of a few acorns in peace, in the country, than face a great spread of delicious food, surrounded by dangers on all sides and with my heart in my mouth!'

The country mouse took his leave, followed by the town mouse's eyes, letting go of his friend with a hum,

Dimana kau timbun daun yang layu?

[Where did you pile up the withered leaves?]

Makin gelisah, aku menanti matahari

[More restless, I'm waiting the sun]

Dalam rimba kabut pagi

[In the jungle of the morning mist]

Sampai kapankah, aku harus menanti?

[How long, should I wait?]

Musim berlalu, resah menanti

[Seasons passed, anxiously waiting]

Matahari pagi, bersinar gelisah

[The morning sun, shining restlessly]

Kini, semua bukan milikku

[Now, everything is not mine]

Musim itu, telah berlalu

[That season, has passed]

Matahari segera berganti *)

[The sun will soon changing]

Closing her inbox, Laluna said, "Suppose I asked, 'What does the story I've told you, feels like?' You will surely answer, 'Just like nano-nano!' And Allah knows best."

Citations & References:
- Niall Rudd, The Satires of Horace and Persius, Penguin Group
- Rev. George. Fyler Townsend, M.A., Aesop Fables, George Routledge and Sons
*) "Matahari" written by Erros Djarot

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