Shmendrick, the Croc

and the Four Little Mice at the Seder

At his Seder, Shmendrick told the tale of the four little mice, what they said, what they did and how he and the Crocodile taught them all about Pesach.

The first little mouse

was ever so interested, her eyes missed nothing at all.  'Look at that Matzah' she said, 'It's all full of holes. Does that mean that other mice have nibbled it already? Is that because on this night we all have to share?'

'That's a good question', said Shmendrick, 'But the holes weren't made by nibbling. That's matzah you see; it's bread that's not allowed to rise. We put rows of holes in it to keep it flat and low.'

'But why do we do that?' asked the first little mouse again. 'Because', said the Croc, 'That's what they fed us when we were slaves in Egypt long ago. And hard, dry crumbs is all many poor mice still get in the world today. So we eat it tonight and we think about how life must feel like for them.'

The second little mouse

had a very sore tail and didn't want to come to the Seder at all. 'It's boring and it hurts and I want to go to my nest', he complained to himself. But out loud he just said, 'Let me go, please let me go!' 

'That', said Shmendrick, 'Is exactly what they said in Egypt, when they asked God to let them go free'.

'Free!' said the second little mouse, 'Who cares about freedom. Just let me go to my bed!' 'But that', replied Shmendrick, 'Is exactly what freedom is, having your dinner and going to your own nest and curling up safe in your bed. And that's what God gave us when we once were slaves long ago.'

The third little mouse

was frightened and shy. All she wanted to do was to hide. So she hopped into the middle of a bowl of green stalks and rolled up as small as she could. 'Maybe nobody will notice I'm here', she thought. But just then somebody picked up the very same leaves she was sitting on and dipped them - and her - in a great big puddle of grey water. 'Ugh!' she screamed, 'That tastes all salty' and she began to cry.

But the Croc turned to her and told her in a very kind voice, 'Don't be afraid because that's the salt water and it's supposed to remind us of tears. It's the tears of creatures like we were when we were slaves to Pharaoh long ago. Slaves have to work hard all day long; they don't get much food and they haven't a corner which they can call their own. We're supposed to cry when we think about all that'.

The fourth little mouse

simply couldn't sit still. 'These prayers and songs are taking a very, very, very long time', he said to himself as he jumped up from his place. So he ran across the table and hid underneath the matzoh. But that soon became rather boring. He waited until no one was looking, then quickly climbed up a bottle of wine. But as he was about to sit on the top he slipped and slid down and dropped right into a bowl of sticky fruit.

'Rather nice', he said to himself as he licked himself clean, 'I wonder what it is!'

'That', said Shmendrick, 'Is called Charoset and it's like the mud we used in Egypt to fix the bricks together when had to be slaves to Pharaoh'.

'Nice, that mud', said the fourth little mouse still licking at the lumps on his fur. 'Yes', said Shmendrick, 'Because it's made of sweet fruits to remind us how kind we were to one another when we were poor and slaves.'

That was the story of the four little mice and how Shmendrick and the Crocodile taught them all about the Seder.