The Town Mouse and the Spartan House
THE
TOWN MOUSE
AND THE
SPARTAN HOUSE
Illustrated by Helen Flook
A
&
C Black ⢠London
Reprinted 2008
First published 2007 by
A & C Black Publishers Ltd
38 Soho Square, London, W1D 3HB
Text copyright © 2007 Terry Deary
Illustrations copyright © 2007 Helen Flook
The rights of Terry Deary and Helen Flook to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work have been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
eISBN 978-1-40819-884-1
A CIP catalogue for this book is available from the British Library.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means â graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or information storage and retrieval systems â without the prior permission in writing of the publishers.
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The logging and manufacturing processes conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Cox and Wyman
Table of Contents
Athens, Greece, 430 BC
Aesop the Greek storyteller said:
It is better to eat beans and bacon
in peace than cakes and ale in fear
.
When I was a boy, I lived in the great city of Athens. It was the finest city in the world and we were the finest people. We were rich.
However, I learned that wealth does not always last. I learned that richness is not always the blessing we think it is. I learned that it is sometimes better to be poor and happy than rich and miserable.
But when I was a boy, I thought we were blessed. Then, one year, it all changedâ¦
It seems the gods of Greece chose to curse us. Our first curse was the Spartan army. The Spartan warriors made their camp outside the city. Every time our army tried to break out, they were driven back or killed.
“Why can't we beat them?” I asked my mother.
She shook her head. “The Spartans are the cruellest people on Earth. They live for war. They are born and grow up to fight and die for Sparta.”
“Why do they hate us so much and want to kill us?” I asked.
“Athens is rich. They are jealous. And they worry we will raise an army to attack them. They want to destroy us before we destroy Sparta.”
Every night, my dreams were haunted by visions of their iron swords chopping me slowly into pieces. I was like an Athenian mouse, waiting to be crushed under their heelsâ¦
The arrival of the Spartans meant we lived in fear, waiting for them to attack. We could smell the smoke as they burned the farms outside the city walls.
The city was crowded with peasants, who had fled from the fields. The temples were filled with the homeless.
My mother stayed inside.
If she walked down the street, people spat at her.
“I come from Sparta,” she explained. “I married your father when we were at peace. Now my country is at war with Athens, the people of the city hate me.”
