There was once an old woman, who milked her goat and kept the milk in a cupboard. A cat came by and drank up the milk. So, the woman set a trap and caught the cat and, as a punishment, she cut off its tail.
The cat cried and said, “Please give me back my tail.”
The old lady said, “Give me back my milk and I will give you your tail.”
The cat went to the goat and said, “Dear goat, can you give me some milk so that I can give it to the old woman and get back my tail?”
The goat said, “Sure. But, first, get some boughs from that tree.”
The cat went to the tree and said, “Kind tree, please give me some boughs so that I can give it to the goat, which will give me milk to take to the old woman and get back my tail.”
But the tree said, “Get me some water and I will give you some boughs.”
The cat went to the water-carrier and said, “O good water-carrier, give me some water, so I can take it to the tree and get some boughs to give to the goat and get milk to give it to the old woman and get back my tail.”
The water-carrier said, “Bring me a pair of shoes and I will give you water.”
The cat went to the shoemaker and said, “Shoemaker, good shoemaker, please give me a pair of shoes to give to the water-carrier, who will give me water to take to the tree and get boughs for the goat who will give me milk, which I will take to the old woman and get back my tail.”
“Bring me an egg and I will give you a pair of shoes,” said the shoemaker.
The cat went to the hen and said, “Hen, good hen, please lay me an egg. I will take it to the shoemaker and get a pair of shoes for the water-carrier, who will give me water, which I will take to the tree and get some boughs for the goat who will give me milk, which I will take to the old woman and get back my tail.”
“Bring me barley and I will lay an egg for you,” answered the hen.
The cat went to the threshing-floor and said, “Threshing-floor, threshing-floor, please give me some barley!”
The threshing-floor said: “Gather the barley which my kind master has scattered for the birds and ants.”
The cat gathered the barley and took it to the hen, who laid her an egg. She took the egg to the shoemaker and got a pair of shoes. She took the shoes to the water-carrier and got a bucket of water for the tree. The tree gave her some boughs, which she took to the goat. The goat gave her some milk, which she took to the old woman.
“Here is your tail,” said the old woman, “and do not steal my milk again.”
The cat took her tail and tried to stick it back. But it would not stick. She tried to stick it with resin, then she tried tar and finally with glue. However, it was of no use. So the cat lived the rest of her life without a tail.
Published - July 12, 2024 07:48 am IST