_Though one have nothing but a cat, yet his fortune can easily be
made._
Once upon a time there was a miller who died leaving his three sons
nothing but a mill, a cow, and a cat. The oldest son took the
mill, the next one took the cow, and the youngest had nothing left
but the cat. But his cat was a wise animal.
The young man did not know what to do, so he said:
“I think I shall skin my cat and eat it, then I shall sell his
skin; after that, I shall die of hunger.”
“Not so fast, master,” said Puss. “Get me a bag and a pair of boots
and we shall make our fortune yet.” So his master got him a bag and
a pair of boots, and Puss ran off to the field to hunt. He lay in
the grass until a rabbit ran into the bag, then Puss tied the bag
up and took it to the king.
“My master has sent you a fine rabbit,” said Puss to the king.
“Who is your master?” asked the king, delighted with the present.
“My master is the Marquis of Carabas,” replied Puss, thinking that
was as good a name as any.
The next day Puss caught two partridges in his bag and took them
to the king, and said the same thing as before. Every day he took
his bag into the field and caught some game and took it to the king
telling him it was sent by the Marquis of Carabas. The king by this
time began to think the Marquis must be a great man and a fine
hunter.
Now the king had a beautiful daughter who had not as yet fallen in
love with anybody, though many fine young men came to see her every
day. One afternoon she and the king were about to take a ride along
the river bank. When Puss heard of this he ran to his master and
said:
“Master, master, come and bathe in the river and your fortune shall
be made.” The master readily obeyed, and was deep in the water when
the king and his daughter rode by. Puss ran out in front of the
carriage and cried:
“Help! Help! the Marquis of Carabas is drowning. Some robber has
stolen his clothes while he was in the river and he cannot get
out!” Then the king stopped his carriage, told his men to hurry
back to the castle to get some fine clothes, and they all waited
until the Marquis could leave the river and put on the fine clothes.
After this had been done, the master came out from the bushes where
he had dressed, bowed very low to the king and kissed the hand of
the princess. She blushed very red and asked him to ride in the
carriage by her side. She thought he was a very handsome young man,
and he thought he had never seen so lovely a young lady in his
life. To-morrow we shall see what happened.