An old rat writes in a journal about his friend Jonathan Brisby, who has been killed that day while helping with "the plan". As he holds onto an amulet, he wonders to himself how to help Jonathan's widow, who knows nothing of her husband's association with this rat, or their experience of "NIMH" four years earlier. Deciding to bide his time, he puts the amulet away and says goodbye to his friend. Elsewhere, Mrs. Brisby, a resourceful field mouse, lives in a cinder block with her children on the Fitzgibbons' farm. She is preparing to move her family out of the field they live in as plowing time approaches; however, her son Timothy has fallen ill. She visits Mr. Ages, another mouse and old friend of her late husband, who diagnoses her son with pneumonia, and provides her with some medicine from his strange laboratory. Ages warns her that Timothy cannot go outside for at least three weeks or he will die. On her way back home she encounters Jeremy, a clumsy but compassionate crow. After she frees him from the string he was entangled in, Dragon, the farmer's cat, appears and chases them away. Mrs. Brisby loses the medicine during the chase, but Jeremy is revealed to have picked it up. The next day spring plowing begins, and though Mrs. Brisby is able to stop the tractor, she knows she must come up with another plan. With the help of Jeremy she visits the Great Owl, a wise creature living in the nearby woods, to ask for help. He initially advises her to move her family regardless of risk, but after discovering she is Jonathan Brisby's widow, he tells her to visit a mysterious group of rats who live beneath a rose bush on the farm and ask for Nicodemus. Upon visiting the rose bush, Mrs. Brisby runs into Brutus, a young, muscular rat who chases her away with his electric spear. She then sees Mr. Ages entering the rose bush, and notices he has somehow broken his leg. When she tries to tell him about Brutus, he replies "Oh, never mind Brutus". Ages then tries at first to send her away, but is amazed when she tells him about the Great Owl's advice, because as far as he knows "No one has ever seen the Owl and lived to tell about it." Deciding to vouch for her with the rats, Ages leads her to their home, where she is amazed to see their use of electricity and other human technology. She meets Nicodemus, the wise and mystical leader of the rats (who was the journal writer in the beginning), and Justin, an extremely kind and friendly rat who is the Captain of the Guards. She learns that her late husband, along with the rats, was a part of a series of experiments at a place known as N.I.M.H. (which stands for the National Institute of Mental Health). Nicodemus explains to Mrs. Brisby how mice and rats were captured and tortured. Injections performed on the mice and rats had boosted their intelligence, allowing them to learn to read and to understand things such as complex mechanics and electricity. The experiments also prolonged their lifespan, which is why Jonathan never told his wife, as she would have aged and died far faster than he. The rats, along with Mr. Ages and Jonathan Brisby, escaped from N.I.M.H. and came to live on the Fitzgibbon farm. The rats created a home for themselves under Mrs. Fitzgibbon's rose bush, creating an elaborate habitation of beautiful chambers, elevators, and Christmas lights. However, the rats are unhappy (on a number of levels) in their dependence on the humans, whom they are stealing electricity from, and have concocted "The Plan", which is to leave the farm and live independently. Nicodemus then presents Mrs. Brisby with the amulet. Because of her husband's prior relationship with the rats, they agree to help Mrs. Brisby move her home out of the path of the plow. However, Jenner and his hesitant accomplice Sullivan, who wish to remain in the rose bush, plot to kill Nicodemus during the move. Mrs. Brisby is told by Justin that someone must drug the Fitzgibbon's cat, Dragon, so that they can complete the move safely. But only mice are small enough to fit through the mousehole leading to the house, and Jonathan was killed by Dragon while trying. Mrs. Brisby volunteers as a means of repaying them. On her way home, Mrs. Brisby sees Jeremy again. Jeremy is dazzled by her amulet and begs her to trade it to him, almost to the point of obsession, but she knows she must keep it and distracts him by asking him to fetch string for her to help move her house. Jeremy heads away to do so.
Author: f25h22
Keywords: The Secret Of NIMH
Added: December 21, 2008
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