
"Shakespeare once said that 'a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.' I immediately think of the bard's words whenever mice come to mind. I dislike rats, and cannot profess to be enamoured by mice and yet, if one prefixes mice with either 'church' or 'field,' it's as though some magical transformation of the species is allowed to take place in one's overall range of sensory responses. Somehow they instantly become more appealing to think about and less offensive to one's sensibilities. I ask you; find me one of those delicate members of either sex who, at the sight of a mouse, will stand on high and scream at the top of their voice and shriek until the vermin is found and is instantly dispatched; nay, even flattened: find me one such shrieker and show them sweet Benjamin. I bet they'd cuddle him as soon as have him clobbered or put him in the mouse- trap wrack?" William Forde: August 13th, 2013.