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Short Cat Tales with Morals
The Cat and the Rooster A Cat pounced on a Rooster, and looked for some good excuse for making a meal of him, for cats normally don't eat roosters, and she knew she shouldn't. At last she said, "You make a great nuisance of yourself at night by crowing and keeping people awake; so I am going to make an end of you." But the Rooster defended himself by saying that he crowed in order that men might wake up and set about the day's work in good time, and that they couldn't do without him. The Cat replies "That may be, but I'm not going without my dinner". She killed and ate him. The want of a good excuse never kept a villain from his crime. Belling the Cat The mice held a meeting to decide how to sound a warning of the approach of their great enemy, the Cat. Among many plans proposed, the favourite one was the suggestion that a bell be tied to the neck of the Cat. Whenever the Cat approached, the mice would be warned by the sound of the tinkling and run away and hide themselves in their holes. But when the mice tried to decide who would be the one to 'bell the Cat', there was noone willing to do it. It is easy to propose impossible remedies. The Parrot and the Cat A man once bought a Parrot and gave it the run of his house. It revelled in its liberty, and presently flew up on to the mantlepiece and screamed away to its heart's content. The noise disturbed the Cat, who was asleep. "Looking up at the intruder, she said, Who may you be and where have you come from?" The Parrot replied, "Your master has just brought me home with him." "You impudent bird, how dare you, a new comer make a noise like that? Why I was born here and have lived here all my life, and yet, if I venture to mew, they throw things at me and chase me all over the place." said the Cat. The Parrot replied, "Hold your tongue. My voice they delight in. Yours is a perfect nuisance." The Fox and the Cat A Fox was boasting to a Cat
of its clever devices for escaping its enemies. "I have a whole bag
of tricks," he said, "which contains a hundred ways of escaping
my enemies." The Cat and the Birds A Cat heard that the birds in an aviary were ailing. So he got himself up as a doctor, and taking with him a set of instruments proper to his profession, presented himself at the door, and inquired after the health of the birds. "We shall do very well," they replied, without letting him in, "when we've seen the last of you.". A villain may disguise himself, but he will not deceive the wise. The Eagle, the Cat and the Wild Sow An Eagle built her nest at the top of a high tree. A Cat and her family occupied a hollow in the trunk half-way down. A Wild Sow and her young lived at the foot of the tree. They might have got on very well as neighbours had it not been for the evil cunning of the Cat. Climbing up to the Eagle's nest she said to the Eagle, "You and I are in the greatest possible danger. That dreadful creature, the Sow, who is always to be seen grubbing away at the foot of the tree, means to uproot it, that she may devour your family and mine at her ease." Having thus driven the Eagle nearly out of her senses in terror, the Cat climbed down the tree and said to the Sow, "I must warn you against that dreadful bird the Eagle. She is only waiting her chance to fly down and carry off one of your little pigs when you take them out, to feed her brood with." She succeeded in frightening the Sow as much as the Eagle. Then she returned to her hole in the trunk. She pretended to be afraid and never came out by day. Only at night did she creep out unseen to procure food for her kittens. The Eagle meanwhile was afraid to stir from her nest. The Sow dared not leave her home among the roots. In time both they and their families perished with hunger and their dead bodies supplied the Cat with ample food for her frowing family. Venus and the Cat A Cat fell in love with a
handsome young man, and begged the goddess Venus to change her into a
woman. Venus was very gracious about it, and changed her at once into a
beautiful maiden. The young man fell in love with her at first sight and
shortly afterwars they were married. The Cock, the Cat and the Mouse Once upon a time . . . a
little mouse decided to go and see the world. Packing some food for the
journey, he carefully locked his door and set off for the unknown. And
what a wonderful world he saw! Tall trees, rolling countryside, flowers
and butterflies he had never set eyes on before. On he hiked till, tired
out, he came to a peasant's cottage. After eating some of his packed
lunch, he thought he would inspect what, to him, was a peculiar sort of
building. He entered the farmyard and his eyes grew round as saucers:
there in front of him were two strange animals he had never seen before.
One was large and handsome, with four legs, covered all over with soft
fur, and sporting splendid white whiskers that gave it a solemn
respectable air. It was dozing against the wall. The other, a two-legged
creature, had red, yellow and green feathers and a fierce, bad-tempered
look. A pair of cruel eyes in a red-crested head glared at the little
mouse. "How do you do, sir! How do you do..." began the mouse's
greeting, as he felt foollsh at not knowing the stranger's name. But the
feathered creature simply puffed out its chest, screeched a loud
"Cocka-doodle-doo!" and strutted towards the mouse, now
paralyzed with fear. The little mouse saw the big yellow beak hovering
over him. "I must run!" he squeaked, turning tail and fleeing as
fast as his legs would carry him. He spied a hole in the wall and dived
into it. Inside, three faces stared at him in amazement. The Mice in Council The mice summoned a council to decide how they might best devise means of warning themselves of the approach of their great enemy the Cat. Among the many plans suggested, the one that found most favor was the proposal to tie a bell to the neck of the Cat, so that the Mice, being warned by the sound of the tinkling, might run away and hide themselves in their holes at his approach. But when the Mice further debated who among them should thus "bell the Cat," there was no one found to do it. The Cat and the Mice A certain house was overrun with Mice. A Cat, discovering this, made her way into it and began to catch and eat them one by one. Fearing for their lives, the Mice kept themselves close in their holes. The Cat was no longer able to get at them and perceived that she must tempt them forth by some device. For this purpose she jumped upon a peg, and suspending herself from it, pretended to be dead. One of the Mice, peeping stealthily out, saw her and said, "Ah, my good madam, even though you should turn into a meal-bag, we will not come near you." Meals-on-Wheels An old tom cat dies and goes to Heaven. He meets St. Peter who says, "You get one wish while in Heaven. What will it be?" The cat replies, "I want a couch to lounge on and I can scratch it all I want with nobody bothering me." St. Peter says, "That is easy enough to do. Your wish is granted." A few days later some mice die, go to Heaven and meet St. Peter. St. Peter says, "You get one wish while in heaven. What will it be?" The mice think about it and decide on roller blades so they can get around Heaven faster. St. Peter says, "That's not too much to ask. Your wish is granted!" A few days later St. Peter decides to check up on the new arrivals. He goes and finds the cat lounging on his couch. St. Peter asks, "How is your stay in Heaven so far?" The cat declares, "The couch is great, but the greatest thing of all is your 'meals-on-wheels' program!" An African Fable of the
Cat Once upon a time the cat did not live in the houses of men. He lived only in the bush or in the jungle. One cat became friendly with a rabbit. He went everywhere with the rabbit and was astonished at the craftiness of his friend. One day a duiker fought with the rabbit and killed it with its horns. As his friend was dead the cat lived with the duiker. Then the duiker was killed by a leopard, so the cat decided to live with the leopard. A few days later they met with a lion. The lion fought the leopard and killed it. The poor cat then made friends with the lion and lived with him until one day they met a herd of elephant. A huge bull fought with the lion and killed it. The cat thought to herself, "I must make friends with an animal as large and strong as this elephant - surely nothing can defeat it!." But his troubles were not yet over, for one day a hunter shot the elephant with a poisoned arrow and the elephant died. Now the cat did not know what to do, for he had never seen a two - legged animal such as this. He thought hard and said to himself, "if this man can kill a huge animal like an elephant, I had better make friends with him so that I can live in safety." He followed the hunter back to his home, and when the hunter entered his hut the cat crept up on to the verandah. He heard sounds of quarrelling in the hut and saw the man in flight from a woman who was beating him with a stick for stirring porridge. The cat said to herself, "Now I have seen the strongest of all creatures - a woman!". Ever after this the cat has lived in the huts with the woman, because it is they who are all-powerful. by Lala, 1948
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