A WEASEL, inactive from age and infirmities, was not able to

　　catch mice as he once did. He therefore rolled himself in flour

　　and lay down in a dark corner. A Mouse, supposing him to be

　　food, leaped upon him, and was instantly caught and squeezed to

　　death. Another perished in a similar manner, and then a third,

　　and still others after them. A very old Mouse, who had escaped

　　many a trap and snare1, observed from a safe distance the trick of

　　his crafty2 foe3 and said, "Ah! you that lie there, may you prosper

　　just in the same proportion as you are what you pretend to be!"