Once upon a time, a mouse, a chicken, a pig, and a cow
lived happily together in a farm. The farmer’s wife was
irritated by the mouse, as the mouse used to plunder the
kitchen at night. So, she bought a mousetrap and placed it in
the kitchen.

The mouse told the chicken, the pig, and the cow about
the mousetrap. As the mousetrap posed no threat to them,
they remained unconcerned.

Unfortunately, the mouse got trapped in the mousetrap.
As night fell, a snake slithered from the nearby field and
entered the kitchen. Seeing the snake, the trapped mouse
frantically squeaked at a very high pitch, while the snake
hissed and slowly came towards the mouse. Hearing noises
coming from the kitchen, the farmer’s wife got up from her
bed and went to the kitchen. As she switched on the kitchen
light, she saw the snake biting the mouse and the mouse
died. Then the snake turned, bit the foot of the farmer’s wife
and quickly slithered back to the field.

Due to the snakebite, the farmer’s wife became ill with a
very high fever. The village doctor recommended chicken
soup to bring the fever down. So, the farmer killed the
chicken. Hearing the sad news, in the morning, neighbors,
relatives, and friends came to see the farmer’s ailing wife and
to feed all of them, the farmer killed the pig. By afternoon,
the farmer’s wife died. The entire village attended her funeral
and to feed so many people, the farmer killed the cow.

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Excerpt from the book “Once Upon A Time: 100 Management Stories” by Rajen Jani