Once upon a time, two brothers lived in the wilderness of Scotland. They lived in a very secluded place, many miles from the nearest village, and they were served by an old cook. Apart from the three of them, there was not a soul in the house, except for the old woman’s cat and hunting dogs.
One day in the fall, the older brother, Elshender, decided to stay at home, and the younger brother, Fergas, went hunting alone. He went far into the mountains, to where he had hunted with his brother the day before, and promised to return home before sunset.
But the day was over, it was high time to sit down for dinner, and Fergas still did not return. Elshender became worried - he had never had to wait so long for his brother.
Finally Fergas returned, pensive and wet. tired, and did not want to tell why he was so late. But after dinner, when the brothers were sitting with their pipes by the fireplace, in which the peat was burning, crackling merrily, and the dogs were lying at their feet, and the old cook’s black cat, with his eyes half-closed, sat on the rug between them, Fergas seemed to wake up and told his brother what had happened to him.
“You’re probably wondering why I came back so late?” - he said. - Well, listen! Today I saw such miracles that I don’t even know how to tell you about them. I walked, as I had planned, along our road yesterday. But when it was time to return home, the mountains were covered in such thick fog that I lost my way. I wandered for a long time, I don’t know where, when suddenly I saw a light. I rather went for it. But as soon as I approached him, I stopped seeing him and found myself near some thick old oak tree. I climbed a tree to make it easier to find this light, and suddenly I saw a hollow in the trunk below me, and in the hollow there was something like a church, and someone was being buried there. I heard singing, saw a coffin and torches. And do you know who carried the torches? But no, you still won’t believe me!..
Elshender began to persuade his brother to continue. He even threw some peat into the fireplace to make the fire burn brighter and make his younger brother happier. The dogs were dozing peacefully, and the black cat raised its head and seemed to listen as attentively as Elshender himself. The brothers even involuntarily glanced at him.
“Believe me,” continued Fergas, “everything I say is the absolute truth.” The coffin and torches were carried by cats, and a crown and scepter were painted on the coffin lid!
He didn’t have time to add anything more, because the black cat jumped up and shouted:
- Oh heaven! This means that old Peter has passed away and now I am the cat king!
Then the cat jumped into the fireplace and disappeared forever...
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru