General American accent

Once there was a young rat named Arthur,

who could never make up his mind. 

Whenever his friends asked him

if he would like to go out with them,

he would  only answer, "I don't know."

He wouldn't say "yes" or "no" either.

He would always shirk making a choice.

 His aunt Helen said to him,

"Now look here. No one is going to care for you if  you carry on like this.

You have no more mind than a blade of grass."

One rainy day, the rats heard a great noise in the loft.

The pine rafters were all  rotten, so that the barn was rather unsafe.

At last the joists gave way and fell  to the ground.

The walls shook and all the rats' hair stood on end with fear and  horror.

"This won't do," said the captain. "I'll send out scouts to search for a  new home."

Within five hours the ten scouts came back and said,

"We found a stone house  where there is room and board for us all.

There is a kindly horse named Nelly,  a cow, a calf, and a garden with an elm tree."

The rats crawled out of their little  houses and stood on the floor in a long line.

 Just then the old one saw Arthur.  "Stop," he ordered coarsely.

"You are coming, of course?" "I'm not certain," said Arthur, undaunted. "The roof may not come down yet."

"Well," said the angry  old rat, "we can't wait for you to join us. Right about face. March!"

Arthur stood and watched them hurry away. "I think I'll go tomorrow," he said calmly to himself, but then he thought "I don't know; it's so nice and snug here."

That night there was a big crash. In the morning some men—with some boys  and girls—rode up and looked at the barn.

One of them moved a board and he  saw a young rat, quite dead, half in and half out of his hole. Thus the shirker got  his due.