World Literature (Aesop Fables)｜世界文学（イソップ童話）Lesson82: The Mouse and the Weasel

PART A_1

Let’s learn vocabulary. Listen and repeat the words and the sentences with your tutor.

PART A_2

1.　squeeze	/skwiz/
	-to press something firmly
	The children squeezed themselves inside the car to fit in.
2.　tempt	/temt/
	-to want something or to want to do something
	Although she was on a diet, she was tempted by the smell of fried chicken.
3.　drag	/drag/
	-to pull someone or something along the ground, usually with difficulty
	After camping, she dragged her trash with her.
4.　satisfy	/SAT-is-fay/
	-to please someone by giving them what they want or need
	The customers in the newly opened restaurant were satisfied with the crew’s service.
5.　sympathy	/SIM-pa-thi/
	-when you show that you understand and care about someone’s problems
	After his moving speech, he was able to get the sympathy of the public.

PART B_1

Let’s read the story. Please read them aloud, and I will check your pronunciation and intonation.

PART B_2

The Mouse and the Weasel

A little hungry Mouse found his way one day into a basket of corn. He had to squeeze himself a good deal to get through the narrow opening between the strips of the basket. But the corn was tempting and the Mouse was determined to get in. When at last he had succeeded, he gorged himself to bursting. Indeed he became about three times as big around the middle as he was when he went in.

At last, he felt satisfied and dragged himself to the opening to get out again. But the best he could do was to get his head out. So there he sat groaning and moaning, both from the discomfort inside him and his anxiety to escape from the basket.

Just then a Weasel came by. He understood the situation quickly.

“My friend,” he said, “I know what you’ve been doing. You’ve been stuffing. That’s what you get. You will have to stay there till you feel just like you did when you went in. Good night, and good enough for you.”

And that was all the sympathy the poor Mouse got.

Greediness leads to misfortune.

PART C_1

Let’s answer comprehension questions. Please answer them based on the story.

PART C_2

1.	How did the Mouse manage to enter the basket?
2.	Did he succeed with his plan?
3.	What happened after he ate several corns?

PART D_1

Let’s discuss the story. Please answer the questions below and express your opinions.

PART D_2

1.	What could have happened if the Mouse had just eaten the right amount of corn?
2.	If the mouse were able to get out of the basket, would he realize his mistakes? Why or why not?
3.	Why do you think the Weasel reacted that way towards the mouse?
4.	Do you agree with the moral of the story? Why or why not?
5.	What other bad characteristics can you think may lead to misfortune?

REVIEW AND FEEDBACK

Now, let us review the things that you learned in this lesson.

ではこのレッスンで学んだことを振り返りましょう。

(Please give a short feedback on how your student did on your class.)

	Grammar 文法	Pronunciation 発音	Vocabulary 単語	Comprehension 理解
GOOD	文法の誤りはほとんどなく、完全な文章で話すことができる	ほとんどの単語をはっきりと正しく発音することができる	習った表現を適切に使うことができる	文章を理解し、質問に正しく答えることができる
FAIR	文法の誤りはあるが、完全な文章で話すことができる	発音の練習が必要な言葉がいくつかある	たまにミスはあるが、習った表現を適切に使うことができる	文章を完全に理解するのは難しく、質問に正しく答えられないときもある
POOR	文章で話すのは難しく、単語だけで話すことができる	発音の練習が必要である	習った単語と表現を少しだけ使うことができる	文章を理解するのは難しく、質問に答えるのは難しい

TUTOR FEEDBACK

GRAMMAR
Good:	Was able to speak in complete sentences with minimal grammatical errors.
Fair:	Was able to speak in complete sentences with evident grammatical errors.
Poor:	Was able to speak using words only.
PRONUNCIATION
Good:	Was able to pronounce most of the words clearly and correctly.
Fair:	Mispronounced a few words.
Poor:	Mispronounced most of the words.
VOCABULARY
Good:	Used appropriate expressions learned in class.
Fair:	Used appropriate expressions learned in class and made a few errors in word choice.
Poor:	Used only a few words and expressions.
COMPREHENSION
Good:	Was able to understand the passages and answer the questions correctly.
Fair:	Had a little difficulty in understanding passages and answering questions.
Poor:	Had a hard time understanding passages and answering questions.

Parts of this lesson material are based on:
An eBook from The Project Gutenberg.
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