ONCE upon a time, a Cat and a Parrot had joint lease of a certain piece
of land, which they tilled together.
One day the Cat said to the Parrot, "Come, friend, let us go to the
field."
Said the Parrot, "I can't come now, because I am whetting my bill on the
branch of a mango-tree."
So the Cat went alone, and ploughed the field. When the field was
ploughed, the Cat came to the Parrot again, and said--
"Come, friend, let us sow the corn."
Said the Parrot, "I can't come now, because I am whetting my beak on the
branch of a mango-tree."
So the Cat went alone, and sowed the corn. The corn took root, the corn
sprouted, it put forth the blade, and the ear, and the ripe corn in the
ear. Then again the Cat came to the Parrot, and said--
"Come, friend, let us go and gather the harvest."
Said the Parrot, "I can't come now, because I am whetting my beak on the
branch of a mango-tree."
[Illustration]
So the Cat went alone, and gathered the harvest. She put it away in
barns, and made ready for threshing. When all was ready for the
threshing, again the Cat came to the Parrot, and said--
"Come, friend, let us thresh the corn."
Said the Parrot, "I can't come now, because I am whetting my beak on the
branch of a mango-tree."
So the Cat went, and threshed all the corn alone. Then the Cat came back
to the Parrot, and said--
"Come, friend, let us go and winnow the grain from the chaff."
Said the Parrot, "I can't come now, because I am whetting my beak on the
branch of a mango-tree."
So the Cat winnowed the grain from the chaff alone. Then she came back
once again to the Parrot, and said--
"Come, friend, the grain is all winnowed and sifted; come and divide it
between us."
"Certainly," said the Parrot, and came at once. You see the Cat had done
all the work, but the Parrot was quite ready to share the profit. They
divided the corn into two halves, and the Cat put her half away
somewhere, and the Parrot carried his half to his nest.
Then the Cat and the Parrot agreed to invite each other to dinner every
day; that is to say, the Cat asks the Parrot to-day, and the Parrot asks
the Cat to-morrow. The Cat's turn came first. Then the Cat went to
market and bought a ha'porth of milk, a ha'porth of sugar, and a
ha'porth of rice. When the Parrot came there was nothing but this stingy
fare. Moreover, the Cat was so inhospitable, that she actually made the
Parrot cook the food himself! Perhaps that was her way of rebuking her
friend for his laziness.
Next day the turn came to the Parrot. He procured about thirty pounds
of flour, and plenty of butter, and everything else that was needed, and
cooked the food before his guest came. He made enough cakes to fill a
washerwoman's basket--about five hundred.
When the Cat came, the Parrot put before her four hundred and
ninety-eight cakes, in a heap, and kept back for himself only two. The
Cat ate up the four hundred and ninety-eight cakes in about three
minutes, and then asked for more.
The Parrot set before her the two cakes he had kept for himself. The Cat
devoured them, and then asked for more.
The Parrot said, "I have no more cakes, but if you are still hungry, you
may eat me."
The Cat was still hungry, and ate the Parrot, bones and beak and
feathers. Thus the tables were turned; for if the Parrot had the best of
it before, the Cat had the best of it now.
An old woman happened to be near, and saw this. So she picked up a
stone, and said--
"Shoo! shoo! get away, or I'll kill you with this stone."
Now the Cat thought to herself, "I ate a basketful of cakes, I ate my
friend the Parrot, and shall I blush to eat this old hag?"
No, surely not. The Cat devoured the old Woman.
The Cat went along the road and perceived a Washerman with a donkey. He
said, "O Cat, get away, or my donkey shall kick you to death!"
Thought the Cat, "I ate a basketful of cakes, I ate my friend the
Parrot, I ate the abusive old Woman, and shall I blush to eat a
Washerman?"
No, surely not. The Cat devoured the Washerman.
The Cat next met the wedding procession of a King: a column of soldiers,
and a row of fine elephants two and two. The King said, "O Cat, get
away, or my elephants will trample you to death."
[Illustration]
Thought the Cat, "I ate a basketful of cakes, I ate my friend the
Parrot, I ate the abusive old Woman, I ate the Washerman and his donkey,
and shall I blush to eat a beggarly King?"
No, surely not. The Cat devoured the King, and his procession, and his
elephants too.
Then the Cat went on until she met a pair of Landcrabs. "Run away, run
away, Pussycat!" said the Landcrabs, "or we will nip you!"
"Ha! ha! ha!" laughed the Cat, shaking her sides (fat enough they were
by this time), "I ate a basketful of cakes, I ate my friend the Parrot,
I ate an abusive old Woman, I ate the Washerman and his donkey, I ate
the King and all his elephants, and shall I run away from a Landcrab?
Not so, but I will eat the Landcrab too!" So saying, she pounced upon
the Landcrabs. Gobble, gobble, slip, slop: in two swallows the Landcrabs
went down the Cat's gullet.
But although the Landcrabs slid down the Cat's gullet easily enough, you
must know that they are hard creatures, too hard for a Cat to bite; so
they took no harm at all. They found themselves amongst a crowd of
creatures. There was the King, sitting with his head on his hands, very
unhappy; there was the King's newly-wed bride in a dead faint; there was
a company of soldiers, trying to form fours, but rather muddled in mind;
there was a herd of elephants, trumpeting loudly; there was a donkey
braying and the Washerman beating the donkey with a stick; there was the
Parrot, whetting his beak on his own claws; then there was the old Woman
abusing them all roundly; and last of all, five hundred cakes neatly
piled in a corner. The Landcrabs ran round to see what they could find;
and they found that the inside of the Cat was quite soft. They could not
see anything at all, except by flashes, when the Cat opened her mouth,
but they could feel. So they opened their claws, and nip! nip! nip!
"Miaw!" squealed the Cat.
Then came another nip, and another great Miaw!
The Landcrabs went on nipping, until they had nipped
a big round hole in the side of the Cat. By this time the
Cat was lying down, in great pain; and as the hole was
very big, out walked the Landcrabs, and scuttled away.
Then out walked the King, carrying his bride; and out
walked the elephants, two and two; out walked the
soldiers, who had succeeded in forming fours-right, by
your left, quick march! out walked the donkey, with
the Washerman driving him along; out walked the old
Woman, giving the Cat a piece of her mind; and last
of all, out walked the Parrot, with a cake in each
claw. Then they all went about their business,
as if nothing had happened; and the
Parrot flew back to whet his
beak on the branch of the
mango-tree.
[Illustration]