Unseen Passage for Class 4 - Passage 06

The beggar walked sadly in the streets of the town. Shivering in his thin coat, he passed through the crowd while rosy-faced Christmas shoppers quickened their steps and avoided him.

The sound of music made him stop at a toy shop. He looked into the window and watched a saleslady open a box. She took out two toy mice, a father mouse and his son. When she wound the key in the back of the father mouse, he danced in a circle with his son. The beggar was mesmerized by the sight but he knew that he could never afford to buy them.

Before long, it was time to close the shop and everyone went home. As the clock struck midnight, all the toys came to life. The toys warmly welcomed their new mice friends. The mouse son became frightened watching so much happening around him and could not help but begin to cry. The toys warned them that they should never talk or cry in the presence of people. If they did, unfortunate things could happen.

The next day, the mouse and his son were sold. Their new owners loved them, often winding them up to watch them dance. Each night, when the owners were asleep, they talked to the other toys, making sure they were never seen by their owners.

One day, the mouse son started to miss the toys at the store and began to cry unintentionally. No one noticed his tears but the family cat did. She pounced on the mouse son and knocked him onto the floor. He fell with a crash and was smashed.

The next morning, the beggar saw a familiar sight when he looked into the dustbin. It was the mouse and his son! His heart ached to see the once beautiful toys in this state and decided to fix them.

Finally, he fixed them. As he wound them up, they started to dance again. Looking at them, he motivated himself never to give up. The beggar smiled and put the toys in his pocket, not noticing the smiles on the toys too.

Adapted from 'The Mouse and His Child' by Russel Hoban (2001) Arthur A. Levine Books, New York