After a while Hem’s and Haw’s confidence grew into arrogance. Soon they became so comfortable they didn’t even notice what was happening.
As time went on, Sniff and Scurry continued their routine. They arrived early each morning and sniffed and scratched and scurried around Cheese Station C, inspecting the area to see it there had been any changes from the day before. Then they would sit down to nibble on the cheese.
One morning they arrived at Cheese Station C and discovered there were no cheese.
They weren’t surprised. Since Sniff and Scurry had noticed the supply of cheese had been getting smaller every day, they were prepared for the inevitable and knew instinctively what to do.
They looked at each other, removed the running shoes they had tied together and hung conveniently around their necks, put them on their feet and laced them up.
The mice did not overanalyze things. And they were not burdened with many complex beliefs.
To the mice, the problem and the answer were both simple. The situation at Cheese station C had changed. So, Sniff and Scurry decided to change.
They both looked out into the maze. Then Sniff lifted his nose, sniffed, and nodded to Scurry, who took off running through the maze while Sniff followed as fast as he could.
They were quickly off in search of New Cheese.
Later that same day, Hem and Haw arrived at Cheese Station C. They had not been paying attention to the small changes that had been taking place each day, so they took it for granted their Cheese would be there.
They were unprepared for what they found.
“What? No Cheese?” Hem yelled. He continued yelling, “No Cheese? No Cheese?” as though if he shouted loud enough someone would put it back.
“Who moved my Cheese?” he hollered.
Finally, he put his hands on his hips, his face turned red, and he screamed at the top of his voice, “It’s not fair!”
Haw just shook his head in disbelief. He, too had counted on finding Cheese at Cheese Station C. He stood there for a long time, frozen with shock. He was just not ready for this.
Hem was yelling something, but Haw didn’t want to hear it. He didn’t want to deal with what was facing him, so he just tuned everything out.
The little people’s behavior was not very attractive or productive but it was understandable.
Finding Cheese wasn’t easy, and it mean great deal more to the little people than just having enough of it to eat every day.
Finding Cheese was the littlepeople’s way of getting what they thought they needed to be happy. They had their own ideas of what Cheese meant to them, depending on their taste.
For some, finding Cheese was having material things. For others it was enjoying good health, or developing a spiritual sense of well-being.
For Haw, Cheese just meant feeling safe, having loving family someday and living in a cozy cottage on Cheddar Lane.
To Hem, Cheese was becoming A Big Cheese in charge of others and owning a big house atop Camembert Hill.
Because Cheese was important to them, the two little people spent a long time trying to decide what to do. All they could think of was to keep looking around Cheeseless Station C to see if the Cheese was really gone.
While Sniff and Scurry had quickly moved on, Hem and Haw continued to hem and haw.
They ranted and raved at the injustice of it all. Haw started to get depressed. What would happen if the Cheese wasn’t there tomorrow? He has made future plans based on this Cheese.
The little people couldn’t believe it. How could this have happened? No one had warned them. It wasn’t right. It was not the way things were supposed to be.
Hem and Haw went home that night hungry and discouraged. But before they left, Haw wrote on the wall:
The More Important Your Cheese Is To You The More You Want To Hold On To It.
逐漸地,哼哼和唧唧的自信開始膨脹起來。面對(duì)成功,他們開始變得妄自尊大。在這種安逸的生活中,他們絲毫沒有察覺到正在發(fā)生的變化。
隨著時(shí)間的流逝,嗅嗅和匆匆日復(fù)一日地重復(fù)著他們的生活。每天早早地趕到奶酪C站,四處聞一聞、抓一抓,看看這區(qū)域和前一天有什么不一樣。等到確定沒有任何異常后他們才會(huì)坐下來細(xì)細(xì)品味奶酪,好好享受一番。
一天早上,當(dāng)嗅嗅和匆匆到達(dá)奶酪C站時(shí),發(fā)現(xiàn)這里已經(jīng)沒有奶酪了。
對(duì)此,他們并不感到吃驚。因?yàn)樗麄冊(cè)缫巡煊X到,最近好像有一些奇異的事情正在奶酪C站里發(fā)生,因?yàn)檫@里的奶酪已經(jīng)越來越小,并且一天比一天少了。他們對(duì)這種不可避免的情況早有心理準(zhǔn)備,而且直覺地知道該怎么辦。
他們相互對(duì)望了一眼,毫不猶豫地取下掛在脖子上的跑鞋,穿上腳并系好鞋帶。
兩只小老鼠對(duì)此并沒有做什么全面細(xì)致的分析,事實(shí)上,也沒有足夠復(fù)雜的腦細(xì)胞可以支持他們進(jìn)行這么復(fù)雜的思維。
對(duì)老鼠來說,問題和答案都是一樣的簡單。奶酪C站的情況發(fā)生了變化,所以,他們也決定隨之而變化。
他們同時(shí)望向迷宮深處。嗅嗅揚(yáng)起他的鼻子聞了聞,朝匆匆點(diǎn)點(diǎn)頭,匆匆立刻拔腿跑向迷宮的深處,嗅嗅則緊跟其后。
他們開始迅速行動(dòng),去別的地方尋找新的奶酪,甚至連頭都沒有回一下。
同一天的晚些時(shí)候,哼哼和唧唧也像往常一樣地來到奶酪C站,一路上哼著小曲。他們過去一直沒有察覺到這里每天都在發(fā)生的細(xì)小變化,而想當(dāng)然地以為他們的奶酪還在那里。
面對(duì)新的情況,他們毫無準(zhǔn)備。
“怎么!竟然沒有奶酪?”哼哼大叫道,然后他開始不停地大喊大叫,“沒有奶酪?怎么可能沒有奶酪?”好象他叫喊地聲音足夠大的話,就會(huì)有誰把奶酪送回來似的。
“誰動(dòng)了我的奶酪?”他聲嘶力竭力地吶喊著。
最后,他把手放在屁股上,臉憋得通紅,用他最大的嗓門叫道:“這不公平!”
唧唧則站在那里,一個(gè)勁地?fù)u頭,不相信這里已經(jīng)發(fā)生的變化。對(duì)此,他同樣沒有任何心理準(zhǔn)備,他滿以為在這里照舊可以找到奶酪。他長時(shí)間地站在那里,久久不能動(dòng)彈,完全被這個(gè)意外給驚呆了。
哼哼還在瘋狂地叫嚷著什么,但唧唧不想聽,他不想面對(duì)眼前的現(xiàn)實(shí),他拼命地告訴自己,這只是一個(gè)噩夢(mèng),他只想回避這一切。
他們的行為并不可取,而且也于事無補(bǔ),但我們總還是能夠理解的。
要知道找到奶酪并不是一件容易的事情。更何況,對(duì)這兩個(gè)小矮人來說,奶酷絕不僅僅只是一樣填飽肚子的東西,它意味著他們悠閑的生活、意味著他們的榮譽(yù)、意味著他們的社交關(guān)系以及更多重要的事情。
對(duì)他們來說,找到酪是獲得幸福的惟一途徑。根據(jù)不同的偏愛,他們對(duì)奶酪的意義有各自的看法。
對(duì)有些人而言,奶酪代表的是一種物質(zhì)上的享受;而對(duì)另一些人來說,奶酪意味著健康的生活,或者是一種安寧富足的精神世界。
對(duì)唧唧來說,奶酪意味著安定,意味著某一天能夠擁有一個(gè)可愛的家庭,生活在名人社區(qū)的一座舒適的別墅里。
對(duì)哼哼來說,擁有奶酪可以使他成為大人物,可以領(lǐng)導(dǎo)很多很多的人,而且可以在卡米伯特山項(xiàng)上擁有一座華麗的宮殿。
由于奶酪對(duì)他們實(shí)在太重要了,所以這兩個(gè)小矮人花了很長時(shí)間試圖決定該怎么辦。但他們所能夠想到的,只是在奶酪C站里尋找,看看奶酪是否真的不存在了。
當(dāng)嗅嗅和匆匆已經(jīng)在迅速行動(dòng)的時(shí)候,哼哼和唧唧還在那里不停地哼哼唧唧、猶豫不決。
他們情緒激動(dòng)地大聲叫罵這世界的不公平,用盡一切惡毒的語言去詛咒那個(gè)搬走了他們的奶酪的黑心賊。然后唧唧開始變得消沉起來,沒有了奶酪,明天會(huì)怎樣?他對(duì)未來的計(jì)劃可是完完全全都建立在這些奶酪的基礎(chǔ)上面的??!
這兩個(gè)小矮人就是不能接受這一切。這一切怎么可能發(fā)生呢?沒有任何人警告過他們,這是不對(duì)的,事情不應(yīng)該是這個(gè)樣子的,他們始終無法相信眼前的事實(shí)。
那天晚上,哼哼和唧唧饑腸轆轆、沮喪地回到家里。在離開之前,唧唧在墻上寫下了一句話:
奶酪對(duì)你越重要,你就越想抓住它。