This is my personal interpretation of this story that can be found in this link
We all live in a community and hence any threat to even the smallest member of the community would eventually be a threat to all. This is why everyone in our steem-cartoon is important to us. Let me tell a story through my art...
The Mouse Trap
Not far from where I stay, there is a small village and in that village is a small farm that is tended by a farmer and his wife. They planted some crops and had some chickens, a cow and a goat. The mouse in the picture is not a domestic animal but but he made his home in the farm together with his other friends.
The mouse was the least liked by the couple. They blame everything on the mouse from the stolen salted fish to the hole in the gunny sack.
They decided that action must be taken to rid the menace. They planted a mouse trap. The mouse saw it. He was alarmed, he knew the mouse hunt will not end till he is caught. He panicked and took to the other animals.
In a frantic scream, he shouted
'Guys, we are doomed. I saw Mrs. Farmer setting up a mouse trap'
The chickens heard, the cow heard and the goat heard what the mouse said. They look sheepish, unalarmed and a little perturbed with the news that didn't matter.
'So what?' they thought.
Then the bitter truth sank in, a mouse trap means the target isn't the chicken, cow or goat. Looks like there is no need for panic. They continue pecking for worms and grazing in the meadow.
'Take a chill pill bro, go watch Netflix' they laughed.
The mouse was scared stiff. He knows he is the hunted.
That night, the trap caught something. It caught a venomous snake. The noise work up the Farmer's wife and in the dark she didn't realise the snake was looking to sink its fangs. She was bitten and she immediately fell ill.
First Casualty
The Farmer seeing his wife is sick, slaughtered the chickens to make soup for her. Hopefully she will recover.
Second Casualty
She didn't recover, so relatives came from near and far to visit her. The Farmer had to cook something for them and he slaughtered the goat to make mutton dishes for his guest.
Third Casualty
The Farmer's wife was too ill and frail. She didn't make it and her funeral took place. The cow was the final kill to feed the entire village that attended the funeral ceremony.
My Interpretation
We often see the problems of others as none of our problem. But what we forgot is that we all form part of the larger community and an attack on even the smallest and weakest member will threaten the entire community. Hence I always felt that minnows are the most deserving of protection because they are new, confused and lost.
We musn't play the role of the Cow, Chicken or the Goat. Noone is too big to be sacrificed if the problem is not attended to. Let us all be team players and soldier on.
