Teresa: Oh! Auntie Shrew.
Cynthia: Oh, Auntie.
Martin: Oh, no.
Nicodemus: In the beginning, we were ordinary street rats, stealing our daily bread, and living off the efforts of man's work. We were captured, put in cages, and sent to a place called nimh. There were other animals there, in cages. They were put through the most unspeakable torture, to satisfy some scientific curiosity. Often, at night, I would hear them cry out in anguish. Twenty rats and eleven mice were given injections. Our world began changing.
Martin: I'm not afraid of the dark.
Auntie Shrew: Martin.
Martin: I'm not afraid of the farmer.
Auntie Shrew: I can't hear.
Martin: I'm not afraid of Dragon. I'm not even afraid of... of the Great Owl.
Auntie Shrew: Oh, hush up.
Martin: Ah, you hush up.
Auntie Shrew: Precocious monster.
Martin: Bossy bullfrog.
Auntie Shrew: Spoiled brat.
Martin: Loudmouth.
Auntie Shrew: Why me, that I alone should be responsible for the welfare of the entire field? It's monstrous.
Justin: It's Jenner. He's at it again.
Mr. Ages: There blows an ill wind.
Justin: He's before the Grand Council now. This time he's attacking Nicodemus openly.
Mr. Ages: And the plan, no doubt.
Justin: Nothing will come of it. I'll pass.
Mr. Ages: Beware, boy, he's dangerous! He'll be the undoing of the rats of nimh.
Nicodemus: Johnathan, your wife has come at last. Perhaps now I can repay you for your kindness to me, but Mrs. Brisby may serve the rats of nimh more than we her. Jenner, I fear, could do her harm. He is consumed by a lust for power. Thus far the amulet has remained safely hidden, but if he finds it... Heaven help us.
Jeremy: Well, uh, let me explain! Oh, what a lovely hat you're wearing.
Auntie Shrew: Don't you sweet-talk me.
Jenner: With Nicodemus out of the way, what's to stop us from taking over?
Sullivan: Jenner, you can't kill Nicodemus.
Jenner: No taste for blood, eh? They've taken the animal out of you.
Jenner: Listen. The Brisby house is a large cement block. In the moving, what if it should fall?
Sullivan: An accident?
Jenner: Of course! Cut the lines, and the weight of it will crush his bones.
Sullivan: It's risky.
Jenner: Once rid of Nicodemus, the plan will die. We can stay her as long as we like.
Sullivan: What about Justin?
Jenner: Leave him to me.
Nicodemus: Johnathan, wherever you are, your thoughts must comfort her tonight. She will be waiting, and you will not return.
Timmy: Momma I'm tired of being in bed. I wanna get up.
Mrs. Brisby: Well, you're not getting up.
Jeremy: Nice evening, huh? I told you you'd love flying.
Mrs. Brisby: I don't know how I let you talk me into this.
Mrs. Brisby: If you're going to feather a nest, you've got a lot to learn about how to treat a lady.
Jeremy: Right. When you're right, you're right, and you're right. None of the girls I meet wanna get serious.
Mrs. Brisby: I doubt they'd survive.
Cynthia: Oh! The poor turkey fell down.
Mrs. Brisby: Please. I would do anything for Timothy. Anything.
Great Owl: There is a way. Go to the rats.
Mrs. Brisby: But I don't know any rats.
Great Owl: In the rosebush.
Mrs. Brisby: Oh, yes. Near the farmhouse.
Great Owl: Go there. Ask for Nicodemus.
Mrs. Brisby: Nicodemus? But how can they help?
Great Owl: They must move your house to the lee of the stone.
Mrs. Brisby: No rat could move my house. It's a.
Great Owl: They have ways.
Mrs. Brisby: I don't understand, but I will do as you say.
Great Owl: I must bid you good evening, Mrs.
Mrs. Brisby: Mrs. Brisby.
Great Owl: Brisby? Mrs. Johnathan Brisby?
Mrs. Brisby: Why, yes. He was my husband. But how did you know about him?
Great Owl: That is not important. I will say this: His name is not unknown in these woods.
Nicodemus: We can no longer live as rats. We know too much.
Auntie Shrew: The Great Owl would know what to do about this. You must go see him.
Mrs. Brisby: I couldn't do that. Owls eat mice.
Auntie Shrew: Well, my child, show a little courage. We're fighting for Timmy's life.
Auntie Shrew: Cast not pearls before swine, I always say, and that includes insolent piglets.
Answer: Mrs. Brisby tells Nicodemus that Jonathan had been teaching her to read and her children as well. The children were better at reading that she was but that might be something that they inherited from their father. I think Mr. Ages was also able to read so that makes him intelligent as well. Remember the injections that the mice and rats were given also gave them the ability to read.