orange fairy book

Chapter 18 The Smart Cat (1)

Once upon a time there was an old man who lived with his son in a small house on the edge of the grassland.The old man is very old, but he has been working hard.Then, at last, he fell ill and felt that he would never get better this time.

One day, his son had just returned from buying bread in a nearby town, and he told his wife to call him.

"Come here, son," said he, "I am dying, and I have nothing left for you, but a falcon, a cat, and a greyhound. But if you make good use of them , you won't be hungry. Take good care of your mother, as you take care of me. Well, goodbye!"

With that, he turned his face to face the wall, dead.

Mother and son mourned for many days in the cottage.When the mourning was over, the son got up, determined to go out and get some food for his supper, and so, calling his greyhound, cat, and falcon, left the house and set off.Wandering aimlessly in the grassland, he suddenly found a group of gazelles, and immediately called the greyhounds to hunt them down.The Greyhound quickly caught a fat gazelle, and the young man put it in a bag and slung it over his shoulder, intending to carry it home.On the way home, he passed a pond. As soon as he approached the pond, a flock of birds flew up into the sky. The falcon on his wrist flew up into the sky and rushed towards its target. The bird fell to the ground.The young man picked up the bird, put it in his bag too, and walked on home.

Nearing home, he came to a small barn near his cottage.There is a small corn field next to his house, and the harvest of the field is stored in this barn.The young man walked in, and suddenly, a mouse sprinted out close to his feet, and then the other mice ran past one by one.The cat swooped down and caught them, not letting a single mouse escape.

When the cat had killed all the mice, the young man left the barn and walked home along the road in front of the door.Suddenly, he felt someone tap him on the shoulder, so he stopped.

"Young man," said a monster (so saying because the stranger looked like a monster), "you're a good boy, and you ought to be lucky. Come, come with me, to that glittering lake yonder Go, don't be afraid."

The young man felt a little strange, not knowing what was going to happen, but he did as the monster commanded.When they reached the shore of the lake, the monster turned to him and said, "Now, close your eyes and walk slowly into the water, and you will find yourself slowly sinking to the bottom of the lake, but don't be afraid, be brave, it will be all right. When you get to the bottom of the lake, all you have to do is to bring up as much silver as possible from the bottom of the lake, and then we will share it between the two of us."

After listening to his words, the young man bravely walked into the lake.He felt himself sinking little by little until he finally hit solid ground.In front of him were four piles of silver, and in the middle of the silver was a strange glowing white stone covered with strange characters he had never seen before.He picked up the stone and took a closer look.When he was holding up the stone for a closer look, the stone spoke:
"All your wishes will come true if you hold me," said the stone, "but you must hide me in your hood and tell the monster that you can go up there."

The young man did what the stone said, and then told the monster that he wanted to go up.A few minutes later, the young man was back on the shore of the lake.

"Where is the silver?" asked the monster waiting by the lake.

"Sir, what should I say! Those things were dazzling, and I was dazzled and at a loss. I stood there, motionless like a sculpture, and I was stunned. Then I heard footsteps, and I was very upset." I was scared, so I called you, and you know what happened next."

"Hmph, you're just like everyone else!" cried the monster, turning away angrily.

When the monster was gone, the young man took the stone out of the hood. "I want the best camels and the best clothes," he said.

"You close your eyes." Stone replied.So he closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, the camel he wanted stood in front of him, and he was wearing a dress of a desert prince.He mounted the camel, whistled, called the falcon, let it stand on his wrist, followed by the greyhound and the cat, and went home.

His mother, who was sewing at the door of the house, suddenly saw a noble stranger approaching on a camel, who was very surprised and bowed to him.

"You don't know me, mother?" he said with a smile.When the kind mother heard his voice, she was so surprised that she almost fell to the ground.

"How did you get that camel and that suit?" she asked. "My son, you don't want to break the law to get them?"

"Don't worry, mother, it's all in the right way," replied the young man, "I'll tell you all about it, but now, mother, I want you to do something for me , you go to the palace and tell the king that I want to marry the princess."

After hearing these words, the mother felt that the son must be crazy, and looked at him blankly.The young man guessed what his mother was thinking, and replied with a smile, "Don't be afraid. Whatever the King asks, you will grant him, and his wish will be granted."

So the mother went to the palace.When she got there, the king was sitting in the tribunal, listening to the complaints of the people.The mother waited and waited until the king had finished all the cases and all the people in the temple were gone, then she went forward and knelt down in front of the king:

"My son asked me to propose marriage to you and ask you to betroth the princess to my son," she said.

The king looked at her and thought she must be mad, but instead of calling his guards to drive her out, he replied solemnly, "If your son wants to marry the princess, build me a castle made of ice first." It is a palace that can be built for warmth, and the smallest singing bird in the world can live in it!"

"It can be done, Your Majesty!" she said, then stood up and left the hall.

Her son was waiting for her anxiously outside the palace gate, and when he saw his mother coming out, he quickly dragged her aside.

"What does he want me to do?" he asked anxiously.

"Oh, it is an impossible thing, and I hope you will stop thinking of marrying the princess," she replied.

"So, what's the matter?" he persisted.

"He wants you to build a palace made of ice, in which a fire can be lit for warmth, and the most vulnerable songbird can live in it alive!"

"I thought it was such a difficult task," cried the young man, "and I will arrange it now." Taking leave of his mother, he went out into the field and took the stone out of his hood.

He said to the stone, "I want a palace made of ice, with a fire to keep me warm, and even the smallest singing bird in the world can live in it alive!"

"Close your eyes now," Stone said.He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he saw a palace, which was even more beautiful than he imagined. The golden fire light reflected softly on the ice, and the palace was so warm that even cats who were afraid of the cold Animals would love to live in it too.

"This palace is very suitable for a princess," he thought to himself.

The next morning, as soon as the king woke up, he ran to the window and saw the palace on the other side of the grassland."That young man must be a good magician," thought the King, "and he might be very useful to me."

The young man's mother came to the palace again and told the king that his request had been granted.This time the king received her with great ceremonies, and bade her tell her son that the wedding was arranged and would take place the next day.

So the young man and the princess were married.After marriage, the princess was very satisfied with her new home, and also with her husband.She played with the beautiful things in the palace, and spent several days happily in this way.But the young man soon grew weary of being at home all day, and told his wife that he was going hunting the next day. "You don't mind?" he asked.The princess replied softly: "I said I don't mind, but it's all right. I will use this time to design some new dresses, so I can pass the time. When you come back, ah, how happy it will be!"

So the young man set off to hunt, with the Falcon on his wrist, and the Greyhound and the Cat after him.

As soon as he was gone, the monster came and knocked on the palace door.He has been waiting for the opportunity nearby, and he has been waiting for many days.

"I have just returned from a country far away," he said to the servant at the palace gate. "I have here some of the largest and most dazzling jewels in the world. I know that the princess likes these beautiful things. I don't know if she wants them or not. Buy some?"

At this time, the princess is worrying about what to decorate her skirt so that her skirt will look more beautiful than other people's skirts at the court ball.For several days, she couldn't think of any good ideas.At this time, when she heard that the monster was bringing his goods to be seen outside the palace, she immediately asked the servant to take him into her room.

Ah, what a jewel the monster set before her!What lovely rubies, and what precious pearls!The princess was sure that girls from other families would not have such beautiful jewelry.But though the princess loved it so much, she tried to take her eyes off the jewels, lest the monster see how much she wanted them.

"I'm afraid these gems are a bit expensive," she said casually, "and I don't need new jewelry right now."

"I don't particularly want to sell them," replied the monster, equally nonchalantly, "but my father left me a necklace of bright stones, and the largest stone with the mysterious writing on it is missing. Say it's with your husband now, and if you give me that stone, you can take any piece of jewelry from here. But remember, never mention me in front of him, because you know, your husband I love that stone so much that I would never give it to anyone else. Well, you think about it, I will come again tomorrow, and when I come I will bring some other jewels, better than today. Madame, goodbye!"

After the monster left, the princess was left alone.She wondered whether to persuade her husband to take out the stone.She thought that her husband had already given her so many things, so she really shouldn't ask him for the only thing he kept!No, I'm too ashamed, she can't do this!But those precious stones, those strings of pearls were so attractive to her!She thought she should ask him, after all, they had only been married for a week, and giving the stone to his beloved wife should be happier than staying with him, that's it, she was sure!

That night, the princess carefully prepared his favorite meal for her husband, and when he came back, after the meal, the princess sat down next to him, stroked his head tenderly, did not speak for a long time, just concentrated on Listening intently to her husband's account of his day.

"I've been thinking of you all day," said the husband at last, "and wishing I could bring you something you like, but alas! what else have you not?"

"It's very kind of you, hunting is so dangerous and hard, and you still think of me." She replied, "Yes, I do already have a lot of beautiful things. But tomorrow is my birthday, if you want to give me If it’s a gift, there’s one thing I really want.”

"What is it? No matter what, I can give it to you immediately!" He asked eagerly.

"It's that shiny stone that fell out of the cuff of your turban the other day," she replied, playing with his fingers, "it's the one with the strange markings, I've never seen anything like that before." Stone."

(End of this chapter)