Compare Two Fables

The Dog and His Shadow

Dog was having a great day. He had found a delicious bone and was going home to chew on it when he crossed a little bridge over a stream. As he looked into the water, he saw another dog who was holding a bone and looking back at him. Hmmm, Dog thought, that dog's bone is bigger than mine. And without thinking further, he made a grab for it. When he did this, the bone that Dog had fell into the water and was swept away.

The Mouse and the Weasel

     A lean and very hungry mouse one day found a basket full of corn with a hole in it. He easliy squeezed through the hole and stuffed himself with corn until he could barely budge. When he was ready to leave the basket, he found that he'd filled out so much he could no longer fit through the hole.
     Weasel was watching Mouse struggle and laughed at his predicament. 
     "What's so funny?" said Mouse.
     "After all your eating, it seems that you'll have to stay in the basket until you've shrunk back to the size you were when you crawled through that hole."

Look back in the text The Mouse and the Weasel. What does the word predicament mean?

Look back in the text The Mouse and the Weasel. What does the phrase barely budge mean?

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