WHY DOG AND CAT ARE ENEMIES
Once upon a time there was a man and his wife, and they had a ring of gold. It was alucky ring, and whoever owned it always had enough to live on. But this they did notknow, and hence sold the ring for a small sum. But no sooner was the ring gone thanthey began to grow poorer and poorer and at last did not know where they would gettheir next meal. They had a dog and a cat, and these had to go hungry as well. Thenthe two animals took counsel together as to how they might restore to their ownerstheir former good fortune. At length the dog hit upon a good idea."They must have the ring back again," he said to the cat. The cat answered, "The ring has been carefully locked up in the chest where no onecan get at it.""You must catch a mouse," said the dog, "andthe mouse must gnaw a hole in the chest andfetch out the ring. And if she does not want to,say that you will bite her to death, and you will see that she will do it." This advice pleased the cat, and she caught amouse. Then she wanted to go to the house in which stood the chest, and the dog came after. They came to a broad river. And since the catcould not swim, the dog took her on his backand swam across with her. Then the cat carried the mouse to the house in which the chest stood. The mousegnawed a hole in the chest, and fetched out the ring. The cat put the ring in hermouth, and went back to the river, where the dog was waiting for her, and swamacross with her. Then they started out together for home, in order to bring the luckyring to their master and mistress.But the dog could only run along the ground; when there was a house in the way, healways had to go around it. The cat, however, quickly climbed over the roof, and soshe reached home long before the dog, and brought the ring to her master. Then the master said to his wife: "What a good creature the cat is! We will always giveher enough to eat, and care for her as though she were our own child!"
But when the dog came home they beat him and scolded him, because he had nothelped to bring home the ring again. And the cat sat by the fireplace and purred andsaid never a word. Then the dog grew angry at the cat, because she had robbed him of his reward, and when he saw her he chased her and tried to seize her.And ever since that day, dog and cat are enemies.
From "The Chinese Fairy Book"
BABA, QUEEN OF SHEBABaba lives in a great house in England. Her mistress is a dear old lady who lovesChow dogs, and owns many of them. Sometimes her friends say, "Chow-Chows are notbeautiful. See those puppies! They are like little cinnamon bears!" She laughs at them,and says, "You wouldn't find another puppy of that cinnamon color in many thousandmiles, nor any such a beautiful blue as my Baba, Queen of Sheba!" Then she tells them the story of Baba, who lies proudly and very quietly at her feet bythe fire."In China, the monks of Manchuria are very fond of Chow dogs. They prize the blueChow above all others. Probably the monks don't eat them (Chow-chow just means'food,' you know) like other Chinamen, but prize them for some religious reason. Atany rate, when puppies come that are not 'true blue,' they are put outside the great walls. People watch for these puppies and sell them for large sums. If they grow up,sometimes their puppies will be 'true blue,' although their parents were not."I had written to a Mandarin in China, asking him to get me a blue Chow, but I had noanswer. Then one day an Englishman brought me Baba, who had been found outsidethe walls of a monastery in Manchuria. She has lived with me three years and all herpuppies have been blue."Baba rose and yawned very politely, and moved about the room on her delicate cat-like feet. She stood looking up at the sleeping parrot, and moved one ear withoutmoving the other. Few dogs can do this. The Chows are born lovers of the chase. Baba was a great hunter, to the sorrow of hermistress. She would slip out at night, and run away to the woods, to hunt birds,squirrels, rats, and other wood creatures. Each time she was discovered she was
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Dog Tales
A collection of short stories about dogs from public domain sources.
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