Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-09-02
WHY ARE WOMEN AFRAID OF MICE,
A Brief Essay in Which the Questi0n
is Not Answered.

w
is Not Answered.
From the London Woman.
AS a woman. and 1 trust brave one. a
lover Of animals and a student Of natural
history. / ask the vexed question in all
seriousness. Why are women afraid of
mice? Why should the sight Il had almost
written the nance of a tiny, harmless,
graceful little creature strike terror in to
the stoutest hearts that beat in feminine
breasts? Echo answers. "Why?" The fear
of mice is hereditary curse, an inherited
weakness, fatal foe. which it is useless to
combat, a foolish dread of which we ought
to feel heartily ashamed, and yet 1t is a
real and formidable terror. 1t is never
assumed. 1t may be exaggerated by fit
OF mysteries. or a succession Of piercing
screams, but the genuine peur a faire fire.
mir Is there all the Same-and why?
1 remember once reading a story about a
coterie Of strong-minded women who gave
series OF lectures upon female virtues in
an old country town assembly room. One
or their number was chosen to deliver the
lecture on valor and selected for her SUBJ
Ject the history Of Joan Of Arc. But when
the evening arrived and she was discours-
ing upon the valor of her sex in general
mouse ran across the platform and the
lecturer and her strong-minded sisters
Jumped on to their chairs, clutching their
pettcoats In manner not altogether pic
mice has nothing whatever to do with the
lack OF real bravery and that Joan of Arc
would probably have clutched her petit
coats In precisely the same manner.
A mouse In the chamber of Marat would,
believe, have deferred Charlotte Corday
from her dread purpose, and the tail Of
one popping OPPORTUNITY from the carving
OF Tuillia's chariot would have prevented
her from driving over her fathers corpse,
ana could cite many instances in which
mice might have changed the history of the
world Who can doubt that Cleopatra and
the other swarthy Egyptian beauties held
the sacred cat in special generation on &C.
count of the part he played In Kidding them
or their pet aversion? Every one knows
| that II cat has a weakness 1t is for a
plump. well-matured mouse and puss has
perhaps. for this reason earned the affec-
| tons. because the gratitude, of our SEX
The story of q prisoner who was cheered
IN captivity by mouse is familiar to us
aii-but the prisoner was a man. EQUALLY
familiar is the fable Of the grateful mouse
| which gnawed the net, but again-the pris-
oner Is said to have been a lion, not a
iioness l believe there is mutual antipathy
between them.
Most women have experienced the sensa-
tlon. You are sitting alone reading, play
ing, writing. painting or working. Sud
denly You fnstinctively feel a sensation of
horror of some evil influence that is pres
ent but as yet unseen.
You lift your eyes. You behold, gliding
over the carpet toward you, without noise
apparently without the trouble Of walking
mouse 1t stops, 1t fascinates you. You
drop your book. your music your brush
your needle. whatever 1t may be- but YOU
make no other sound. You feel your blood
freeze and your limbs slowly paralyze
your heart stops beating, your breath
ceases, cold chill creeps over YOU In
your imagination you feel the soft touch
OF an army of mice running races over
your race and hands and making nests in
your back hair. You start to your feet
and then well, women
take these things so differently
Are women afraid Of mice simply be-
cause IT Is born In them? There is no rea-
son why we should be afraid Of them but
the fact remains that we are and 1 have
long since resigned myself to the fact as
an evil Tor which there is no remedy.