You all know that old story about the little mice whom anyone could bully and devour as they pleased. So the mice went to the wise eagle owl and asked him what they should do so that they would no longer be bullied.
– Mice, – said the wise eagle owl, – become hedgehogs. Hedgehogs have needles; no one bullies them.
The mice were overjoyed, but then they thought it over and asked:
– How exactly do we become hedgehogs?
– Leave me alone, that’s tactics, and I deal with strategy, – the wise eagle owl answered them.
But no one has told you until now what happened next. Well, listen up.
So the owl told them about strategy, hooted mockingly, swallowed one mouse whole, and flew off to his hollow, while the mice rushed home in terror. Later they calmed down a bit and reasoned: after all, it’s true, hedgehogs have needles, and no one bullies them. Let’s go to the hedgehog.
The mice came to the hedgehog and said:
– Hedgehog, we are little mice, everyone bullies us. But you are something else, with your needles, no one touches you; take us as your wives.
The hedgehog snorted and replied:
– I’m a hedgehog, a proud bird. You can’t screw a hedgehog for shit. I have no need for this social burden of yours. I don’t touch you, and you don’t touch me! Am I making myself clear?
The mice waved their paws, twitched their whiskers and squeaked:
– Hedgehog, don’t think we’re freeloaders, we’ll keep things honest. Maybe you need something too? We can bring you seeds.
– Pffft to you and your carbohydrate diet, – the hedgehog grumbled, – now a worm, I could really devour a worm.
Then the mice huddled together, whispered, rustled their tails, and then turned around and solemnly announced:
– Hedgehog! You’ll have your worms! And grasshoppers, and all sorts of other flies. We don’t eat those, but we’ll get them for you. And in return, don’t let anyone bully us. Deal?
The hedgehog wasn’t a fool himself and would have liked to snack on a mouse if the occasion arose, but then he thought: that’s it, no more tedious night hunting, food delivered to the door—just imagine how much leisure time will open up!
– Deal, – he said.
And so, one day a fox came out to scavenge. He found a burrow, smelled mice, got excited, and thought he’d dig it up right now. But from inside, the hedgehog sharpened his needles and gave him a real wallop!
The fox started yapping: his nose hurt, his paws hurt, and there was nothing he could do. He yapped and yapped, and then limped away to find himself easier, more defenseless prey. And the mice remained to live and prosper with the hedgehog.
And that is the end of the fairy tale, but that’s where the history begins. Word spread through the forest, and other animals also began to help each other protect themselves from predators. Before, they used to hide or scatter, a predator would catch one for dinner, and be satisfied with that. But now they stopped letting such robbery slide.
Some predators fled the forest forever, others adapted somehow and switched to a more modest diet. One thing led to another: private property, division of labor, freedom of trade, and the doctrine of deterrence. Living together became convenient, profitable, and safe. That is how we gradually built our Zootopia.