It is known that cats and mice do not live in harmony. And this is what happened between them one day.
One cunning old cat once called a kitten, who was his grandson, and said to him:
“I feel that I don’t have long to live in this world... Now, if the mice came to say goodbye to me, it would calm my conscience.” Go to the mice. You are still small - they will not be afraid of you and will listen. Tell them that I am very sick, decrepit, almost dying, that I repent of my sins and I beg them to visit me and read me the prayer of departure!
The kitten went to the mice and conveyed his grandfather's request. At the same time, he himself began to feel sorry and even cried.
The mice gathered for a council and began to discuss the old cat’s request. They tried and tried for a long time. Finally, one elderly, lanky-legged mouse came out and made the following speech:
- Do as you wish! But as for me, I’ll only get together for the cat’s funeral. His claws are too memorable to me!..
But another mouse told her:
-You talk like a coward. But we will all go and see how this old robber dies. Yes, he doesn’t even have the strength to let out his claws...
Several carefree young mice agreed with her.
And in the end, all the mice - young and old, with the exception of the lame one - went to visit the old dying cat.
When they approached the cat’s home, a kitten came out to meet them and led the whole gathering to its grandfather. And he returned to the door and locked it tightly.
The old cat pretended to be completely weak. But when the mice came closer, he threw away his rosary and meowed so loudly that the mice’s blood froze. The cat rushed at them, dealt with them like a cat and arranged a rich funeral dinner for himself.
Only one young mouse somehow miraculously escaped and ran underground in horror. From afar, the spiny mouse saw how the escaped mouse ran headlong and asked:
- Well, how did the cat receive you?
“I’m the only one left alive,” the surviving mouse barely stammered, gasping. “That’s how he received us!”
“Be careful with the insidious enemy, my friend,” the lanky mouse told her. “Be careful and remember once and for all: do not give in to the enemy’s persuasion, be afraid of his kindness and mercy!”
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru