# The Tale of Two Bad Mice explained — Short Fiction > Chapter companion for Short Fiction by Beatrix Potter. ## What happens Two mice, Tom Thumb and Hunca Munca, discover a beautiful doll's house and, after finding the food is inedible plaster, wreak havoc in frustration. They steal what they can, but later make amends by leaving a crooked sixpence in a stocking on Christmas Eve, and Hunca Munca returns each morning to clean. ## Themes in this chapter ### Domesticity and Order The doll's house represents an idealized domestic order, which the mice disrupt through their destructive rampage. ### Hospitality and Deception The beautiful but inedible plaster food deceives the mice, leading to their angry reaction. ### Greed and Its Pitfalls The mice's initial greed for the feast turns to disappointment and destruction when the food proves fake. ## Character check-ins ### Tom Thumb One of the two bad mice; he loses his temper and smashes the doll's house food, then throws clothes out the window. ### Hunca Munca Tom Thumb's wife; she helps with the mischief but also has a frugal mind, taking a bolster and other useful items for their home. ### Lucinda One of the dolls who owns the doll's house; she stares at the mess in silence. ### Jane The cook doll; she leans against the dresser and smiles at the destruction. ## Key lines > The ham flew all into pieces, for underneath the shiny paint it was made of nothing but plaster! The ham shattered because it was only painted plaster. _Reveals the deception of the doll's house food._ > But they were not so very very naughty after all, because Tom Thumb paid for everything he broke. The mice weren't truly bad, since Tom Thumb later compensated for the damage. _Shows the moral resolution of the story._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_7_se/chapters/the-tale-of-two-bad-mice - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_7_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_7_se/chapters