One day the rat sold his soul to the pig-devil for one piece of miserable, stinky cheese. He was happy until the cheese was gone. Unfortunately, the pig-devil would not consider letting the rat have his soul back. 'œIt's mine forever, ha-ha-ha!'?

The rat got depressed and wanted more cheese, but he had nothing to barter for it, and the pig-devil was the sole source of cheese in all the land. Word quickly got out about the difficulties the rat was facing. Those who had been inclined to like the rat woefully shook their heads and stopped inviting him to their garden parties. Those who were inclined to dislike the rat took the news as confirmation of their ill-founded suspicions. The rat was disheartened by this unforeseen chain of events, but went to work on Monday anyhow. His boss, a spindly, kind-hearted old daddy-long-legs, noticed that the rat seemed kind of down, and suggested they go out drinking after work. The rat had nothing better to do and so agreed to go.

Finally, after a long and trying day answering phones in the technical support department, the spider and the rat retired to a nearby tavern. To the rat's shock and dismay, who should he see behind the bar but the
pig-devil! Swallowing his annoyance, the rat followed his boss up to the bar. 'œHey man, when did you start working here?'? he asked the pig-devil.

'œOh, about six months ago, but I can only pick up a few shifts a month, when someone calls in sick or something. What'll it be, fellas?'?

The rat and the spider each ordered a tankard of ale, and began conversing with the pig-devil. Finally, after several minutes of friendly bantering, the rat suggested they all play a game of darts. The spider was too spindly and puny to properly throw a dart, but he was able to swing back and forth on a line of thread until he had gathered enough momentum to send the dart flying into the board. But although it was an impressive technique to watch, he wasn't able to aim the dart very effectively. The pig-devil was an amazing marksman, able to send the dart wherever he pleased. The rat wasn't bad, but he couldn't really compete with the pig-devil.

Getting bored, the spider wandered off to the jukebox where he programmed an eight-song set of his favourite prog-rock bands. The pig-devil was trouncing the rat game after game.

'œLet's make this interesting, shall we? If you win this game, I give you your soul back. But if I win, I get your beautiful tail.'?

Although he didn't fancy his chances, the rat agreed to the pig-devil's terms. Just then, the spider's jukebox songs came on. 'œPROG-ROCK!!'? the pig-devil roared. 'œI HATE PROG-ROCK!!'? Covering his ears with his hooves, the pig-devil went on to play the worst game of darts in his life. The rat won easily, and got his soul back, which he promptly traded for more cheese.

QUESTIONS FOR THE READER
1. We all want cheese sometimes, but most of us will not go to such lengths to procure it as the rat did in this traditional German folktale. What is the most extreme thing you have ever done for cheese?

2. In a crucial scene in this story, the spider is depicted as throwing darts by swinging from a line of spider-silk. Doesn't this seem a bit improbable? How would the physics of this work in the real world? Can daddy-long-legs even spin spiderwebs?

3. If we consider this story to be an allegorical tale explaining in layman's terms the inevitable progression from feudalism to capitalism to communism, then how are we to understand the rat's continued desire for cheese? How would Marx and Engels likely interpret the specialization of labour necessary for a properly functioning technical support department? Who controls the means of production of cheese?

4. If you were to program an eight-song set of your favourite prog-rock, which songs would you include and why?