humans have children. Mice don't have children."

"Well I'm calling them my children!" snorted Mrs. Twitch, "I don't care what you, or those silly humans do!"

Mr. Twitch knew it was useless to argue with his wife, especially when she was in an excited state. He went back to his cereal packet and ate the word 'Nutritional' because he thought it might be good for him, while his wife gathered her newly-borns around her and started washing their little pink faces.

And so the days went by, but as you must remember, a day to us is like a month to a mouse. The babies rapidly grew coats of silky, grey-brown hair, and they learned how to gnaw wood, seeds and plastic wiring. Soon they were feeling bold enough to go with their mother out of the nest and along the many runways and tunnels, which mice from thousands of mouse-years had made. And the boldest of all the little mice was Potato.

He was so bold, his mother wondered if he would ever become an old mouse because bold mice hardly ever ended up as old, bold mice.

"There are old mice and there are bold mice," she explained, "But there are no old, bold mice!"

Potato shook his head and washed his ears.

"I don't know what you mean, mother?" he said.

"Let me put it another way," she said, "Slow and steady wins the race."

"But I'm not in a race, am I mother? Where are the other runners?"

"No, no son. What I'm trying to say is, 'You must look before you leap'."

"But father told me that 'He who hesitates is lost', so how am I going to do that if I'm in a race? As soon as I look before I leap, I'll be hesitating, so all the other runners will pass me, and you want me to win the race, don't you mother?"

"Of course I do, son," said Mrs. Twitch, "I'll talk to you about this again, later on!"

(What she meant was: "I'll get your father to talk to you!") because she was so totally bamboozled and puzzled and confused by Potato's conversation she didn't know what to say.

So Potato had a good, long lecture from his father and at the end of it Potato's father said he was a "Wiser