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Most people have heard of
Puss in Boots, even if it is Antonio Banderas, but do you actually know
the fairytale and, of course, the Moral behind the tale? |
Puss in Boots by
Charles Perrault
There was a miller whose only
inheritance to his three sons was his mill, his donkey, and his cat. The
division was soon made - the eldest took the mill, the second the
donkey, and the youngest nothing but the cat.
The poor young fellow was quite
comfortless for having received so little. "My brothers," said he, "may
make a handsome living by joining their shares together; but, for my
part, after I have eaten up my cat, and made myself a muff from his
skin, I must then die of hunger."
The cat, who heard all this, but
pretended otherwise, said to him with a grave and serious air, "Do not
be so concerned, my good master. If you will but give me a bag, and have
a pair of boots made for me, that I may scamper through the dirt and the
brambles, then you shall see that you are not so poorly off with me as
you imagine."
The cat's master did not build very
much upon what he said. However, he had often seen him play a great many
cunning tricks to catch rats and mice, such as hanging by his heels, or
hiding himself in the meal, and pretending to be dead; so he did take
some hope that he might give him some help in his miserable condition.
After receiving what he had asked for,
the cat gallantly pulled on the boots and slung the bag about his neck.
Holding its drawstrings in his forepaws, he went to a place where there
was a great abundance of rabbits. He put some bran and greens into his
bag, then stretched himself out as if he were dead. He thus waited for
some young rabbits, not yet acquainted with the deceits of the world, to
come and look into his bag.
He had scarcely lain down before he
had what he wanted. A rash and foolish young rabbit jumped into his bag,
and the master cat, immediately closed the strings, then took and killed
him without pity.
Proud of his prey, he went with it to
the palace, and asked to speak with his majesty. He was shown upstairs
into the king's apartment, and, making a low bow, said to him, "Sir, I
have brought you a rabbit from my noble lord, the Master of Carabas"
(for that was the title which the cat was pleased to give his master).
"Tell your master," said the king,
"that I thank him, and that I am very pleased with his gift."
Another time he went and hid himself
in a grain field. He again held his bag open, and when a brace of
partridges ran into it, he drew the strings, and caught them both. He
presented these to the king, as he had done before with the rabbit. The
king, in like manner, received the partridges with great pleasure, and
gave him a tip. The cat continued, from time to time for two or three
months, to take game to his majesty from his master.
One day, when he knew for certain that
the king would be taking a drive along the riverside with his daughter,
the most beautiful princess in the world, he said to his master, "If you
will follow my advice your fortune is made. All you must do is to go and
bathe yourself in the river at the place I show you, then leave the rest
to me."
The Marquis of Carabas did what the
cat advised him to, without knowing why. While he was bathing the king
passed by, and the cat began to cry out, "Help! Help! My Lord Marquis of
Carabas is going to be drowned."
At this noise the king put his head
out of the coach window, and, finding it was the cat who had so often
brought him such good game, he commanded his guards to run immediately
to the assistance of his lordship the Marquis of Carabas. While they
were drawing the poor Marquis out of the river, the cat came up to the
coach and told the king that, while his master was bathing, some rogues
had come by and stolen his clothes, even though he had cried out,
"Thieves! Thieves!" several times, as loud as he could. In truth, the
cunning cat had hidden the clothes under a large stone.
The king immediately commanded the
officers of his wardrobe to run and fetch one of his best suits for the
Lord Marquis of Carabas.
The king received him very
courteously. And, because the king's fine clothes gave him a striking
appearance (for he was very handsome and well proportioned), the king's
daughter took a secret inclination to him. The Marquis of Carabas had
only to cast two or three respectful and somewhat tender glances at her
but she fell head over heels in love with him. The king asked him to
enter the coach and join them on their drive.
The cat, quite overjoyed to see how
his project was succeeding, ran on ahead. Meeting some countrymen who
were mowing a meadow, he said to them, "My good fellows, if you do not
tell the king that the meadow you are mowing belongs to my Lord Marquis
of Carabas, you shall be chopped up like mincemeat."
The king did not fail to ask the
mowers whose meadow it was that they were mowing.
"It belongs to my Lord Marquis of
Carabas," they answered altogether, for the cat's threats had frightened
them.
"You see, sir," said the Marquis,
"this is a meadow which never fails to yield a plentiful harvest every
year."
The master cat, still running on
ahead, met with some reapers, and said to them, "My good fellows, if you
do not tell the king that all this grain belongs to the Marquis of
Carabas, you shall be chopped up like mincemeat."
The king, who passed by a moment
later, asked them whose grain it was that they were reaping.
"It belongs to my Lord Marquis of
Carabas," replied the reapers, which pleased both the king and the
marquis. The king congratulated him for his fine harvest. The master cat
continued to run ahead and said the same words to all he met. The king
was astonished at the vast estates of the Lord Marquis of Carabas.
The master cat came at last to a
stately castle, the lord of which was an ogre, the richest that had ever
been known. All the lands which the king had just passed by belonged to
this castle. The cat, who had taken care to inform himself who this ogre
was and what he could do, asked to speak with him, saying he could not
pass so near his castle without having the honor of paying his respects
to him.
The ogre received him as civilly as an
ogre could do, and invited him to sit down. "I have heard," said the
cat, "that you are able to change yourself into any kind of creature
that you have a mind to. You can, for example, transform yourself into a
lion, an elephant, or the like."
"That is true," answered the ogre very
briskly; "and to convince you, I shall now become a lion."
The cat was so terrified at the sight
of a lion so near him that he leaped onto the roof, which caused him
even more difficulty, because his boots were of no use at all to him in
walking on the tiles. However, the ogre resumed his natural form, and
the cat came down, saying that he had been very frightened indeed.
"I have further been told," said the
cat, "that you can also transform yourself into the smallest of animals,
for example, a rat or a mouse. But I can scarcely believe that. I must
admit to you that I think that that would be quite impossible."
"Impossible!" cried the ogre. "You
shall see!"
He immediately changed himself into a
mouse and began to run about the floor. As soon as the cat saw this, he
fell upon him and ate him up.
Meanwhile the king, who saw this fine
castle of the ogre's as he passed, decided to go inside. The cat, who
heard the noise of his majesty's coach running over the drawbridge, ran
out and said to the king, "Your majesty is welcome to this castle of my
Lord Marquis of Carabas."
"What! my Lord Marquis," cried the
king, "and does this castle also belong to you? There can be nothing
finer than this court and all the stately buildings which surround it.
Let us go inside, if you don't mind."
The marquis gave his hand to the
princess, and followed the king, who went first. They passed into a
spacious hall, where they found a magnificent feast, which the ogre had
prepared for his friends, who were coming to visit him that very day,
but dared not to enter, knowing the king was there.
His majesty was perfectly charmed with
the good qualities of my Lord Marquis of Carabas, as was his daughter,
who had fallen violently in love with him, and, seeing the vast estate
he possessed, said to him, after having drunk five or six glasses, "It
will be your own fault, my Lord Marquis, if you do not become my
son-in-law."
The marquis, making several low bows,
accepted the honor which his majesty conferred upon him, and forthwith,
that very same day, married the princess.
The cat became a great lord, and never
again ran after mice, except for entertainment.
The Moral of this Story?There
is great advantage in receiving a large inheritance, but diligence and
ingenuity are worth more than wealth acquired from others.
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