Crimson Fairy Book

Chapter 37 The Story of the Cat Group

A long time ago, animals could talk too.In an abandoned house not far from a big city lived a group of cats.They lived a life of ease and comfort, eating well and living well.If an unlucky rat happened to stray into their territory, they caught it, not for the sake of eating the rat, but for the pleasure of catching it.According to the old people in the city, their parents once told them that there was a time when the whole country was full of rats and there was not a grain of grain in the fields.Thanks to the cats who rescued the whole country from this disaster, their ancestors were able to live in peace.Now, no one knows where the comfortable cats get the money to pay for, and no one cares about it, but one thing is certain: they are well off and can afford servants.Although they have a good time together, they can scratch and scratch like humans, but they can't do housework by themselves, because they are afraid of eating raw food, they always like to ask someone to help them cook.Because they have high requirements for housework, and many women don't like to live with cats for a long time, so the employers will not stay with them for too long.Therefore, there is a saying in the city that when a woman has no money, she will say "I'm going to live with a cat".That's what many poor women do.

Now Lizina was very unhappy at home, because her widowed mother only favored her older daughter, and the younger one suffered a lot because she couldn't even get a full meal, while her sister Papina wanted everything she wanted.If Lizina wanted to complain, what awaited her was a severe beating.

Finally one day Lizina could bear it no longer, and she said to her mother and sister:
"Since you hate me so much, you will be very happy without me, so I decided to live with cats."

"Go away!" cried her mother, grabbing an old broom from behind the door.Poor Lizina ran out without waiting for her mother to finish, and she ran to the door of the cat-hole.It just so happened that the cat's chef had a quarrel with the owner this morning, almost got his eyes scratched out, and was leaving the cat's cave with scratches all over his face.The newcomer Lizina received a warm welcome, and started cooking as soon as she entered, without paying any attention to the strange smell in the cat's cave, or whether she would please them.

Lizina was always surrounded by cats as she walked up and down the kitchen, and one by one they came to inspect the new cook.One was at her feet, another stood on the back of the chair she was sitting on and watched her choose vegetables, another sat on the table next to her, and the rest ran around among the pots and pans against the wall.Their cries echoed in the room, as if they were very pleased with the new chef.Although Lizina hadn't learned their language yet and didn't understand what they wanted her to do, she was kind and kind and took the initiative to help the fallen kitten up, persuaded the quarreling parties, and let a tabby cat go. Feed him on his own lap—the tabby cat with a crippled leg is the oldest of the pack.Lizina's kindness made a good impression on the cats, and when she got used to their behavior they made an even better impression of her.The room has never been so clean, the food is so delicious, and the sick cats are well cared for.After a while, an old cat came to visit. This cat, whom they called father, lived in a barn on the top of the mountain. He would come down from time to time to see his group of cats.The father also liked Lizina very much. He asked the cat group: "Is this kind little girl with black eyes taking good care of you?" The cat group replied in unison: "Very good, Papa Gato. We I have never seen such a good servant!"

Every time I visit, the children's answers are the same.But after a while, the careful old cat found that the little girl was getting more and more sad.One day, the old cat found the little girl crying in the kitchen, and asked her, "What's the matter with you, are my children treating you badly?" The girl cried even more sadly, and she sobbed, "No! They were all very nice to me. But, I was homesick, I wanted to see my mother and sister."

The old cat Gato is very reasonable, he understands the feelings of the little servant. "You ought to go home," said he, "and you need not come here again if you are unhappy. But you deserve a reward for taking such good care of my child. Come with me into the inner cellar, You must have never been there, I always lock the door here, and only I have the key."

Lizina followed the old cat into a vaulted cellar under the kitchen, and looked around in surprise.She saw two earthenware water jars, one containing oil and the other a liquid that shone like gold. "Which jar do you want me to dip you in?" Papa Gato asked, he smiled, showing sharp white teeth, and the beard on both sides of his face was straight.The little girl blinked her long eyelashes, looked at the two jars carefully, and said shyly, "Just this oil jar."

Papa Gato said, "Oh, no! You deserve better things." Then he grabbed the girl's hand with his thick claws and threw her into the jar of liquid gold.A miracle happened!When Lizina climbed out of the jar, she was all golden, shining like the sun in the summer sky.If it weren't for her pink cheeks and long black hair, she would really be a statue of solid gold.Papa Gato cried out in satisfaction. "Go home," he said, "and see your mother and sister. You must remember that when you hear a rooster crow, walk in the direction of the sound. If you hear a donkey You have to choose another way."

The little girl kissed the old cat's white paw gratefully, and started home.As she approached her mother's house, she heard a rooster crowing, and hurried towards the sound.At this time, a golden star appeared on her forehead, which made her black hair more beautiful.At this time, the donkey brayed, Lizina didn't dare to look at the place where the donkey was grazing on the other side of the fence, she bowed her head and walked away.The mother and sister standing at the door of the house were envious and surprised when they saw her, and they cried more than Lizina.Lizina took out her handkerchief, and a handful of gold fell out.

The mother lived happily with her two daughters, for Lizina gave them everything she could get, except the golden dress, which she could not take off herself.Her sister was madly jealous of her fortune, and she tried her best to get the gold star, but the gold star, like the clothes, couldn't be taken off.All the gold coins in Lizina's pocket went into the pockets of her mother and sister.

"I'm going too, to see what I can get from the cat," said Papina, the eldest daughter, one morning, picking up Lizina's basket and tying some pockets into her dress. "I'll go to the cat and get myself some gold," she thought, as she went out of her mother's house.

The cats never hired another servant. They knew that no one could replace Lizina, and they were always sad for losing her.When they heard that Papina was Lizina's sister, they all ran out to meet her. "She doesn't look like Lizina at all," whispered the kittens.

"Hush, be quiet!" said the older Cat. "Not all servants are pretty."

There was no doubt that she was nothing like Lizina.Soon, even the most reasonable and magnanimous cats admit this.

On the first day, she shut out the kitchen door to a tomcat who liked to watch Lizina work, and a young naughty cat jumped in through the kitchen window and onto the table, and she stabbed him sharply with a nail. Called for an hour.

As the days passed, the cat family felt more and more of the misfortune.

The servant has a bad temper and a bad job.The corners of the room were full of dust, cobwebs hung from the roof to the window panes, and the beds were in a mess.No one had shaken old and sick cats' favorite feather beds since Lizina was gone.When Gato's father came to visit again, he saw that the whole group of cats was in a commotion.

"Kaisa's paw is so swollen it's about to break," said one of the cats, "that Papina kicked him with a big wooden shoe. and three of Agrippina's children died in their mother's arms, because Papina forgot they were in the garret, and did not bring them food. We can bear this servant no longer—let her go, Papa Gato! Lizina will not blame us, she must know her sister very well."

"Come here!" Papa Gato shouted to Papina in a majestic tone.He took her into the cellar and showed him the two jars too. "Which jar of liquid should I immerse you in?" he asked.Papina quickly replied: "Golden jar." She was neither kind nor kind, and of course she was not polite.

Gato's father's yellow eyes were burning with anger. "You don't deserve it," he yelled at Papina, before he grabbed Papina and threw her into the jar of oil, nearly choking her to death.Screaming, she struggled to get out of the oil, and the vengeful old cat grabbed her again and made her roll in the ashes.When she stood up dirty and blind, the old cat pushed her down on the ground and said, "Go away, when you hear the donkey bray, walk along."

An angry Papina stumbled home and happened to find a stick on the side of the road to support herself.When she saw her mother's house, the donkey on the grass on the right suddenly brayed loudly.She immediately turned around and walked towards the sound, but when she touched her forehead, a donkey's tail grew on her forehead.Angry and desperate, she hurried back to her mother's house.

It took Lizina two hours, a large pot of hot water, and two bars of soap to wash off the dust that Papa Gato had wiped on Papina.However, the donkey's tail could not be removed; it stuck to Papina's forehead like a gold star on Lizina's forehead.The mother was so angry that she beat Lizina cruelly with a broom, and then put her into a well, where she cried for help.

Before that, the king's son passed by here. He had seen Lizina sewing in the living room, and the prince was deeply moved by Lizina's beauty.After two or three visits, he finally boldly approached the window, and asked in a soft voice, "Dear girl, will you be my bride?" The girl replied, "I will."

When the prince came to receive the bride the next morning, he found that the bride was tightly wrapped in a big white veil.

"Our custom is to take unmarried girls from their parents in this way." The bride's mother explained that she wanted the prince to marry Papina back as Lizina, so she wrapped the donkey's tail on Papina's forehead. On the head, under the veil.The young and shy prince was not suspicious at all, and he let Papina sit side by side with him in the carriage.

Their carriage passed by the old house where the cats lived, and the cats were all standing at the windows, for the news was everywhere that the prince was going to marry the most beautiful girl in the world, and that girl had a gold star on her head, and the cats knew, That girl could only be their beloved Lizina.When the carriage passed the old house, all the cats gathered together, and they sang in unison:
"Meow, meow, meow! Prince Prince, look back! The beauty in the well is Lizina, and you are marrying Papina."

The prince's coachman understood what the cats said, stopped the car, and said to his master, "Your Highness, do you know what the cats are singing?" At this time, the singing sounded again, louder than before.

The prince turned around and lifted the veil, revealing Papina's bloated face with the donkey's tail still dangling from her head. "Oh, monstrosity!" cried the prince, and ordered the carriage to turn round, and trembling with rage, he drove his eldest daughter to the swindler mother.Holding the hilt of his sword in his hand, the prince asked his mother to hand over Lizina with a dignified tone.The mother hurried to the well and released Lizina who was imprisoned there.When the prince brought Lizina to his father, the king, Lizina's glittering clothes and gold stars lit up the whole palace.They got married the next day and lived happily ever after.The cat group, led by Gato's father, also attended their wedding.

(End of this chapter)