Once there was a little mouse. He was a very gregarious mouse who hated to be alone. He was always surrounded by friends, or family, and they were always laughing and having fun. They lived in groups next to a river where the birds would sing.
On the other side of this very same river, though, lived the rats. They were not gregarious creatures, they were, in fact, the very opposite. They were so aloof that they never even exchanged thoughts or words with their own relatives.
One day the little mouse fell into the river and was carried a little ways downstream. He was so focused on getting out of the water that he didn't realize which side of the river he'd come up on. When he was dried off and ready to head home, he noticed the silence. Then he noticed the rats. They were everywhere! But not one of them was speaking. He walked up to the nearest rat and asked if there was a bridge anywhere near, and the rat looked at him like he was crazy, but didn't say a word.
The little mouse walked for hours on end to find a bridge, all the way asking the rats for help with no reply. When he finally made it safely home he told all his friends about the rat side of the river. And from that day on the little mouse was always a little more aloof then before. For, he realized that silence is sometimes a good thing.