On a bright, sunny afternoon, Mia the happy little Mouse was wandering around in her garden. Indeed, everything looked so beautiful in the garden, and she was filled with joy looking at her favourite flowers, dancing around in the sweet summer breeze.
“Oh,” said she, “how happy I am! Nothing is as happy and bright as my beautiful garden is! Yes, yes! I will tell all my friends about my beautiful garden. They will surely come to see me.” And she started to sing a little happy song. But she only sang the first line when she suddenly stopped and said: “No, that will not do! I will tell all my friends to come here this very day, and we shall have a joyful time together. We shall sing, and dance and then — Yes! then we shall form a music band! Oh, that will be so nice!”
Mia was not a little scared at the thought of it. “But how shall I do it?” she said. “I know nobody who can sing or play, everybody’s so taken up with his trade nowadays. But I do not dare to ask them. I’m oh! so afraid they will say no!” But as Mia resolved to do so, she trudged up to her good friend Toby Tortoise, who always was so wise and calm.
“Dear Toby,” said she, “do come and see my garden. Everything is so beautiful in it, and you shall do me a favour!”
“Anything in the world yours, my dear Mia,” answer Toby. And when he came to her garden, he looked all around him and thanked her kindly for her invitation.
“Well, dear Toby, you know how it is yourself,” said Mia. “I was thinking whether we should not form a music band this very day, and I have made a little song about it. I hope you will sing it with me. But oh dear! Nobody in the whole world can do it better than you, my dear Toby! Toberschut, Toberschut, would you be so so good? Wouldn’t you be good enough to play upon your violin, and help the others? And then I might be leader.”
And ready Toby was. They found others who were willing to join in the singing, and in this way a fair number of persons was invited to their concert. But all who had accepted the invitation were, like Mia, shocked to hear that Toby would be leader. “He is such a slow thing,” said all the others. “And you cannot hear his violin, even if you were to be drowned in its sound.” “Then we shall all shout together, so that all may hear it, by-per-snee,” ventured a bull-finch, who was very loth to be drowned out.
With these arrangements their concert began. At first it went on very well. Soon, however, the clamour got to such a height that Toby’s song well nigh got drowned. And when Mia told them to be quiet and listen to the sound of the violin; then a Wren and some other gay birds immediately chipped in and said: “No, that’s out of all question,” and in that case, “we shall sing all together.”
Then Toby got quite beat. “Yes, indeed,” said a commonisable aunt, who had all the time been crying rejoice; “Yes, indeed, where is ground where someone may generously sow seeds of peace, there surely can be no place for singing.”
Mia took this good advice to heart. “I believe,” said she, “that they are all right, all except our Wren!” he said, “nice as you all are. You are so right; all happiness, all peace may everybody pray for as they seek themselves.”
Then went Wren home after this explanation everybody went on shouting and screaming even to fighting. And when they had fought long enough, play who would, kept fighting Wren quietly went forth impossible living creatures.
Then went Toby’s concert to the winds, which he had meant to finish at the evening’s close with the title-song, which ran: “This evening again we are all met together.”
“Ah, dear me! the happiness in my little garden is all over,” sobbed poor little Mia.