There was once a miller who had three sons and owned nothing but a mill, an old donkey, and a ginger cat. When the miller died, his property was easily divided. The eldest son took the mill, the second son took the donkey; and so there was nothing left for the youngest son but the cat.

The poor young fellow was desperately unhappy and inconsolable for he had received what seemed like the worst lot.

“What am I to do?” he said, “my brothers can take care of themselves with their mill and their donkey. But even if I were to kill the cat, eat him, and sell his skin for a loaf of bread, how long would that keep me alive?”

The cat heard the young man talking to himself and got up on his four paws. He looked at him in a grave and wise way, and said:

“My dear Master, if you give me a strong sack and a pair of boots such as gentlemen wear when they go shooting, I will not only show you things that you have never seen but I shall be much more useful to you alive than dead.”

Now, not only was the cat’s master sceptical of what he had just heard, but mostly of what he had just witnessed. He had seen the cat hide in the meal tub and then spring out on the rats; and he had seen him pretend that he was dead until the mice came out of their holes, and then, snap! dash! he had them all under his paw. But how were such tricks going to help matters now, he was not sure yet.

“I don’t have anything to lose,” he thought to himself and with his last pennies, he bought the cat what he had asked for.

When the cat received his boots, he slipped them elegantly on, slinging his sack over his shoulder, and holding the string with his paws, he marched bravely to a rabbit warren.

He filled his sack with bran and lettuce, and left the mouth of the sack open. Then he lay down, shut his eyes, and did as though he were sound asleep. Soon a young rabbit smelled the bran and saw the open bag. Ignorant of the wickedness and deceit of the world, he jumped head first straight into the bag, and at once the cat drew the strings close and held the rabbit captive.

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Illustrations and cover

Arthur Friday

Text by

Alex Fonteyn

English Translation and Adaptation

Martha Strauss

Ben Torrent

Matthew Zamoyski

Typesetter

Blake Bendezar

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© Copyright by Tom eMusic

ISBN 978-1-62321-006-9

Tom eMusic

www.tomemusic.com

New York 2013