Once when the world was younger, the great Trickster Mouse came down from the sky. He found Ferret, sitting by the side of the river. Ferret had caught a fish, and he was about to eat it. In those days, Ferret was big and round, did you know that?
Now, Trickster Mouse said to himself, "I could try to fish for myself, but there is Ferret with a nice fish already. Surely I can get him to give his fish to me instead."
So the Trickster Mouse said, "I don't mean to interrupt you but I can't help noticing that you have a most marvelous fish there."
Ferret said, "Yes, I caught it in the river."
"Well you know I have something marvelous for dinner, myself."
"What is it, Mouse? I don't see you carrying anything."
"I have the marvelous Invisible We-Dont-Know-What-It-Is. It is the most marvelous of all marvelous dishes. Still, even though I have it, I'm very sad."
"Why are you sad, Mouse?"
"Because, you see, you are my best friend. And I wish so very much that you could taste the marvelous Invisible We-Dont-Know-What-It-Is, but you see, I only have enough for one, and if I give you mine then I will not have anything left for dinner."
"That's very sad, Mouse." Then Ferret thought for a while, and because he thought he was smart, he said, "You know, I have an idea. I can give you my fish, and you can give me the wonderful Invisible We-Dont-Know-What-It-Is. Then we will both have dinner together."
Mouse said, "Well! That is a very clever answer, Ferret, I'm proud of you! Now we shall both have a marvelous dinner!"
Ferret said, "Here's the fish. Now may I have my Invisible We-Dont-Know-What-It-Is?"
Mouse said, "Oh, I don't have it with me. I keep it in my mousehole. Go have a look while I start snacking on this marvelous fish."
So Ferret went into the mousehole. He could not fit in there at first, because he was too big and round. Eventually he got halfway in and then he got stuck.
"Help! Mouse! I'm stuck in the mousehole!" he called.
"Don't worry, Ferret, I'll be there in just a minute," and Mouse went right on eating the fish.
Now, Ferret began to pull harder and harder with his front paws.
He pulled and he pulled and he pulled and eventually he had stretched himself thin enough to get all the way inside the mousehole.
"It's all right, Mouse! I'm inside the mousehole now!" said Ferret.
"That's good, Ferret," said Mouse, his words muffled by a mouthful of fish.
"But I don't see the Invisible We-Dont-Know-What-It-Is, Mouse! Where is it?"
"It's way down at the back of the deepest, smallest burrow of the mousehole," said Mouse.
Ferret went to get deeper into the mousehole, and he got stuck again.
"Help! Mouse, I'm stuck again!" he wailed.
"I'll be right over, Ferret." said Mouse, and kept on eating.
And again Ferret began to pull harder and harder, he pulled and he pulled and he pulled, and eventually he had squeezed himself all the way down the mousehole.
"It's all right, Mouse. I'm in again."
"That's good, Ferret," said Mouse, and kept on eating.
Then Ferret looked and looked and said, "Mouse! I can't see the Invisible We-Dont-Know-What-It-Is. Are you sure it's down here?"
Mouse said, "Well, you must be very careful if you want to find it. It moves from place to place. Look behind the bookshelf."
And Ferret looked behind the bookshelf and could not find it.
"It's not there, Mouse!"
Mouse said, "Perhaps it is under the rug."
And Ferret looked under the rug and could not find it.
"It's not there, Mouse!"
Mouse said, a little impatiently this time, "Well, maybe it has gone in the desk drawer again."
And Ferret looked in the desk and could not find it. "I'm sorry Mouse, it's not there!"
So Mouse said, "Well, it's in there somewhere, keep looking."
So while Mouse ate the fish, poor hungry Ferret looked for the Invisible We-Dont-Know-What-It-Is. He looked under the coffeecups and behind the telephone and beneath the chairs and on top of the refrigerator. He looked underneath the egg cartons and behind the milk and inside the crisper. He looked behind the walls and he looked in the oven and he looked inside every single one of the beans. And when he had looked absolutely everywhere, he turned around and began to search again, because Ferret was very persistent, though not very bright.
Finally, Mouse had finished the fish, and he said to Ferret, "Well, my friend, that was a very nice fish but I think it's time for you to go home now."
"But I haven't found the Invisible We-Dont-Know-What-It-Is!"
"That's your problem. Get out of my mousehole."
And again, Ferret got stuck, and he pulled, and he pulled, and he pulled, and eventually he got back out of the mousehole.
Mouse said, "Well, good night, my friend Ferret. We should have dinner together again some time."
"Oh, ok." said Ferret. He went home again.
When Ferret's wife found out what happened, she was very angry. "You mean he had you looking for this Invisible We-Dont-Know-What-It-Is for the whole evening and you never found it?"
"Nope, never did find it." said Ferret.
"Then we'll go look together!" said Ferret's wife.
And they looked and they looked and they looked and they couldn't find it either. So Ferret's wife made the children help too, and they looked and they looked, and they never found it. And then the grandchildren had to help too, and they looked and they looked and they looked, and they never found it either.
And to this day when you see any of Ferret's children, you know, they are still looking for the Invisible We-Dont-Know-What-It-Is, because they are very persistent, though, sadly, not very bright. Of course, now they are also long and skinny from being caught in little sticky places like mouseholes and water pipes.