Click on the image above to be taken
to the game. Can you help Ratty complete all 8 floors of the house?
The Brass Rat
A man, visiting San Francisco, noticed a musty
curio shop, which seemed to be forgotten by time. It seemed very out of
place in the busy city. The man's curiosity was piqued, and he entered the
shop. The store didn't seem to have much traffic, and the shelves were
full of dusty, but interesting items. The man found himself strangely
interested in a rather ugly brass rat on a shelf behind the counter. Ugly
it was, but he had never seen anything like it -- it was so incredibly
detailed, and life-like. He asked the shopkeeper for a price.
The man was pleased to learn that he could acquire the rat for only $5,
and he handed the shopkeeper the money. But, before giving the man the
rat, the shopkeeper sternly warned him, "This sale is final. If you leave
the shop with the brass rat, I won't take it back under any
circumstances."
The man thought the warning was curious, given that the rat only cost $5.
Even if he decided he hated the rat, that was hardly an amount worth
worrying about. He agreed to the shopkeeper's terms, and left with the
rat.
At first, everything seemed perfectly normal. But, as he walked back
toward his car, the man started to hear strange rustling noises around
him. Then he saw a life rat scurry out of an alley, and start to follow
him. Suddenly, rats seemed to be appearing all around him, streaming out
of sewers and dumpsters, all following him and milling about his feet.
The man began to run, but the rats kept up in increasing numbers. The man
realized that he was being chased by literally tens of thousands of rats.
The ground came alive, as the rats swarmed behind him.
The man suddenly realized the significance of the shopkeeper's warning,
and knew what he had to do. He turned toward the bay, and ran as quickly
as he could toward the water. When he reached the waterfront, he threw the
brass rat as far as he could into the bay. The rats raced past him,
following the rat into the water, where they drowned.
The man returned to the curio shop, and upon seeing him enter the
shopkeeper shouted, "I told you, no refunds. I don't want trouble here.
The sale was final, and you can't return the merchandise."
The man smiled, and replied, "Oh, I don't want to return the rat. I just
want to know -- do you have a brass lawyer in stock?"
a rat
an informer, a worker who is
a company scab, a person who betrays. (She's a company rat because she always sides with management.)
like rats
deserting a sinking ship
to leave a situation that
displays an element of trouble or danger. (As soon as the company announced a large drop in sales the sales team
resigned likes rats deserting a sinking ship.)
the lab rat
a tv character who performs
scientific analysis, typically in a geeky kind of way. (Give the evidence to the lab rat in forensics and he'll search for
clues.)
look like a
drowned rat
to be very wet, especially
because of the rain. (After walking to work in the pouring rain he arrived looking like a
drowned rat.)
a pack rat
someone who collects things they don't need. (She's a real pack rat because she never throws away anything.)
a rat fink
an extremely unpleasant
person, or someone who informs on you. (Don't go near rat fink over there as he's not to be trusted.)
rat on (someone)
to report on someone's
behaviour. (My best friend ratted on me to the teacher for copying his homework.)
rat out on
(someone)
to betray (I was ratted out on by my business partner and lost everything I
invested.)
a rat race
competing against your fellow
human to survive the rigours of life. (The rat race certainly brings out the selfish side of people's
characters.)
rat arsed /
ratted
rather drunk. (I was so rat arsed that I woke up in the neighbours back garden.)
smell a rat
begin to believe something is
wrong about a situation, especially hints of dishonesty. (Michael told me he was going to school but he's left his bag and bus
pass in his room. I smell a rat.)
The infinite monkey theorem states that a
monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter keyboard for an infinite
amount of time will almost surely type a particular chosen text, such as
the complete works of William Shakespeare.
Here's what my rat achieved in 5 passes
while attempting to make her way down the back of my computer desk.
