A miller left his three sons what little he had: a stone mill, a donkey, and a cat. The three brothers, without hiring a notary or a defender, quickly divided these things. If these people were hired, this pitiful inheritance would not be enough to pay their wages. The eldest brother took the stone mill, the second brother got the donkey, and the younger brother only got the cat.
The little brother was sad to receive such a pitiful property.
"If the eldest brother and the second brother work together, they can make a decent living." He said, "But even if I eat the cat meat and make a pair of cuffs in the cat skin, I will have to starve to death in the end." ”
The cat heard this and pretended not to hear it. He said to his master steadily and solemnly:
"Please don't bother, my master. As long as you can give me a pocket and a pair of boots so that I can walk on the thorny ground, then you will find that the property you have received is not as bad as you think. ”
Although the owner did not quite believe his words, he had seen this cat very good at playing dexterous tricks when catching rats, and would hang upside down or hide in flour to pretend to be dead. So he thought that the cat might be able to help him get out of poverty, so he wasn't completely disappointed in the cat's words.
The cat got the things he wanted. He bravely put on his boots, tied his pockets around his neck, grasped the rope at the mouth of the bag with his two front paws, and went to a forest inhabited by many rabbits.
He put some rice bran and lettuce in his pocket, then lay on the ground and pretended to be dead, waiting for the young rabbits who did not know much about the traps of the world to come into the bag and eat them.
He had just laid down and had good luck: a rash young rabbit had entered his pocket. The cat immediately pulled the rope, relentlessly caught him and strangled him to death.
The cat triumphantly took his prey to the palace to ask for the king. After being introduced to the king's quarters, he bowed deeply to the king and said:
"Your Majesty, this rabbit was commissioned to you by my master, the Marquis of Calaba (a name he made up at will for his master).
"Tell your master," replied the king, "I thank him, and his gift makes me very happy." ”
The next day, the cat went out and lay in the wheat field, still holding the open bag. When the two partridges got inside, he drew the rope and caught them both. Then he gave them to the king as he had done the last time. The king happily accepted the partridges and rewarded him with some money.
In this way, the cat often contributed prey to the king in the name of his master. This practice continued for two or three months.
One day he learned that the king was going to a river and was taking his daughter, the most beautiful princess in the world, with him. Then he said to his master:
"If you can do what I say, you'll be lucky: you just have to go to the one place in the river that I've shown you to take a bath, and I'll do the rest for you."
The so-called Marquis of Calabar did as the cat said, and he couldn't really guess what trick the cat was playing. While he was bathing in the river, the king's carriage passed by, and the cat cried out desperately:
"Help, help, the Marquis of Calaba is about to drown!"
The king heard the shouting, leaned out of the window of the car, and recognized the cat who often gave him wild game. He immediately ordered the Guards to rescue the Marquis of Calaba.
When the people rescued the poor marquis from the river, the cat approached the carriage and told the king that while his master was bathing, a group of thieves had come, and though he shouted to catch the thief, the thief stole his clothes.
In fact, it was this mischievous cat who hid his clothes under a large rock.
The king immediately ordered the attendants in charge of the clothes to choose the most splendid set of clothes they wore and give them to the Marquis of Calaba.
The king expressed his deep condolences to the marquis. The Marquis looked even prettier when he put on the King's clothes (he was already very handsome). The king's daughter fell in love with him, and when he looked at the princess two or three times with respect and tenderness, the princess fell in love with him feverishly.
The king asked the marquis to sit in his car and go playing together. The cat saw that his plan was about to succeed, and his heart was happy, and he kept running in front of the carriage. After a while, he met some peasants mowing grass on the grass, and he said to them:
"Hey, mowing the good people! If you don't tell the king that this meadow belongs to the Marquis of Calaba, you will all be chopped into meat sauce! ”
As the king passed by the meadow, he asked who owned it.
"It belongs to the Marquis of Calaba!" The mowers answered in unison. Because the cat's words frightened them.
"Your meadows are beautiful!" The king said to the Marquis of Calaba.
"Yes, Your Majesty." The Marquis replied, "This meadow has a good annual harvest. ”
The cat continued to run in front. He met some of the people who harvested the wheat, and he said to them:
"Hey, good people who cut wheat! If you don't tell the king that this meadow belongs
Marquis of Calabar, you will all be chopped into meat sauce! ”
Soon the king passed by and asked whose wheat field he had seen belonged to.
"It belongs to the Marquis of Calaba!" The people who cut the wheat answered in unison.
The king again praised the Marquis of Calaba.
The cat kept running in front of the carriage and said the same thing no matter who he met. As a result, the king was amazed at the wealth possessed by the Marquis of Calabar.
Finally, the cat came to a beautiful castle. The owner of this castle is an extremely wealthy goblin. It turned out that the places the king had passed along the way belonged to him. The cat carefully inquired who the goblin was and what skills he had, and then asked to meet him, saying that since he had come to the gate of the castle, it would be very rude not to go in to visit his master.
The goblin tried his best to receive the cat with the grace and etiquette that the goblin could do, and he asked the cat to sit down.
"Someone said to me," said the cat, "that you have the ability to transform into all kinds of animals, for example, into a lion or an elephant." ”
"Yes," replied the goblin rudely, "I can prove it to you, and now I'll turn into a lion." ”
The cat saw a lion suddenly appear in front of him, frightened to death, and jumped on the eaves. Because he was wearing boots, he jumped hard and dangerously, and it was inconvenient to walk on the corrugation.
After a while, the cat saw that the goblin had returned to its original form before he dared to come down from the roof. He admitted to being frightened just now.
"Someone else told me, but I didn't believe it," said the cat, "that you can become the smallest animal, such as a rat or a vole." Honestly, I don't think that's possible. ”
"Is it impossible? You watch! The goblin said, and immediately turned into a rat and ran on the floor.
As soon as the cat saw the rat, it immediately pounced on it and ate it in one bite.
At this time, the king passed by. When he saw this beautiful castle, he wanted to go inside and have a look. The cat heard the sound of a carriage on the drawbridge, and ran up to meet him, shouting at the king:
"Welcome your Majesty to the Castle of the Marquis of Calabar!"
"How, Marquis, is this castle also yours?" The king exclaimed, "Ah, this tower and the buildings around it are so beautiful! Let's take a look inside. ”
The marquis took the princess in his arms and followed the king into a hall. There had been a sumptuous banquet, which had been prepared by the goblin for his friends who were about to visit. When the friends heard that the king was inside, they were too frightened to come in.
The king, who was very appreciative of the marquis's character, and seeing that he had great wealth, and knew that his daughter was very fond of him, so after five or six glasses of wine, he said to the marquis:
"Marquis, will you be my son-in-law?" Of course, it's entirely up to you to decide. ”
The Marquis paid a deep salute to the king and received the honor given to him by the king. That night, he married the princess.
Cats have since become great heroes. He stopped catching rats, and even if he did sometimes, it was just a play.
For more stories, please pay attention to WeChat: cfgs365