When the time came for the old miller to rest, his three sons stood in the yard and shared the mill and the animals. The eldest took the mill, and the second took the donkey. To the youngest there came only the cat, who sat on the meal chest with his tail wrapped around his paws, watching the brothers go their separate ways. The young man looked at the cat, and then at the empty yard. “A mill would have turned,” he said. “A donkey would have carried. But what am I to do with a cat?”
At that, the cat opened his yellow eyes and answered as plainly as any courtier. “Do not sell me, master. Give me a pair of boots and a sturdy bag, and I will show you that a cat may earn his keep.” The youngest son had little enough, yet he bought the boots and found a bag with a long cord. When the cat stood upright in his new leather boots, buckled neatly at the ankle, he looked so ready for business that the young man could not help but wait and see.
The cat slung the bag over his shoulder and went into the fields, where the rabbits fed among the cabbages. He filled the bag with bran and green leaves, laid it open, and stretched himself beside it as if he had no care in the world. Before long, two rabbits hopped inside to nibble. The cord flew tight, and the …
6 chapters
