A cat and a monkey were sitting one day in the chimney corner watching
some chestnuts which their master had laid down to roast in the ashes.
The chestnuts had begun to burst with the heat, and the monkey said to
the cat, "It is plain that your paws were made especially for pulling
out those chestnuts. Do you reach forth and draw them out. Your paws
are, indeed, exactly like our master's hands." The cat was greatly
flattered by this speech, and reached forward for the tempting
chestnuts, but scarcely had he touched the hot ashes than he drew back
with a cry, for he had burnt his paw; but he tried again, and managed
to pull one chestnut out; then he pulled another, and a third, though
each time he singed the hair on his paws. When he could pull no more
out he turned about and found that the monkey had taken the time to
crack the chestnuts and eat them.
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