"The Paddock and the Mouse" is a poem by the 15th-century Scottish poet Robert Henryson and part of his collection of moral fables known as the Morall Fabillis of Esope the Phrygian. It is written in Middle Scots. As with the other tales in the collection, appended to it is a moralitas which elaborates on the moral that the fable is supposed to contain.
The tale is an expansion of Aesop's Fable of The Frog and the Mouse and concerns a mouse that desires to cross a stream. A paddock[a] offers his assistance and, to prove his trustworthiness, discusses the difference between appearing and being virtuous. As the two cross the stream tied together, the paddock betrays and tries to drown the mouse. Their struggle is seen by a kite (bird), who grabs and kills them both.
- ^ "paddok(e (n.)". Middle English Dictionary. University of Michigan. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
- ^ a b Kindrick, Robert L. "The Morall Fabillis". TEAMS Texts. University of Rochester.
- ^ Henryson 2009, p. 169ff.
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