They say that one day there was a mouse in the lion's cave. At night, when the lion was sleeping, the mouse silently crawled out of its hole and gnawed the ends of the mane of the lord of the beasts. And soon the lion's mane turned out to be so short that he became ashamed to show himself in front of his subjects. Then the lion called his advisors and said:
“Whoever helps me get rid of the mouse will become my first vizier.”
Hearing these words, the jackal bowed, saying:
- I know, our lord, that only one animal is terrible for a mouse - a cat. You need to put a cat in your cave, and then no mouse will dare to crawl out of its hole.
- But where can we get a cat? – the lion was upset. - I have never heard of such animals living in my forest...
“Rely on me, my lord,” said the jackal. “I often visit the nearby village and I have many cats I know.”
The jackal told the truth. That same day he went to the village and, meeting a familiar cat, joyfully told her:
– Do you know what happiness the gods have sent you? From now on you will live in the cave of the ruler of our forest - the lion! Let's hurry to him quickly, he's waiting!
In response to these words, the cat asked:
– Why would I go to the lion’s cave? I don’t feel bad in a man’s hut either: there is a cool corner there, there are a lot of mice...
Then the jackal asked:
-Who catches mice for you?
- Like who? – the cat was surprised. - Of course, I myself.
“You see,” the jackal rejoiced. - So you have to work every day! Know, if you agree to live in the cave of our lord, all his subjects will look after you and every morning fat field mice will be served at your table...
- So, I can do nothing all day and for this they will feed me, look after me and fulfill all my desires?
“On behalf of my lord, I promise you this.”
“If so, then I agree,” the cat was happy. Lead me!
And she followed the jackal into the forest.
As the jackal promised, this is how it all happened. The cat was given the best place in the king’s cave, and the lion ordered the animals to fulfill all the cat’s wishes.
Now the mouse no longer bothered the lion. Every night the ruler of the forest heard her scratching in her hole, but his sleep was calm: the lion knew that as long as the cat was awake in the cave, until then the mouse would not dare to leave its hole.
The cat really liked her new life. She did nothing and just snorted at all the animals all day long:
- Hey you, lazybones! Give it to me! Bring me that!
The cat was so arrogant that she dared to be rude to the lion himself. But the lion bore all the insults from her, because every night he heard the mouse scratching in his hole.
One afternoon, when the lion went hunting in the mountains and the cave was completely quiet, the mouse decided that the cat had left the cave with the lion. The mouse jumped out of its secret hole, but before it could take even one step, it found itself in the claws of its enemy.
After eating the mouse, the cat lay down in a corner and purred loudly. She was very pleased: now she will be able to sleep not only during the day, but also at night: from now on the mouse will not disturb the lion.
It never occurred to the lion that the cat had eaten his enemy, and he still listened at night to see if the mouse was scratching in its hole.
And the cat, as always, hissed at the animals, snorted at them, and scratched the jackal - the first vizier of the lion - with its sharp claws all over the face. When the jackal complained to the lion about the evil, lazy cat, the master growled angrily:
“Whoever dares to complain to me about the cat again will be expelled from my domain forever!” Don't you know that a cat is the only animal that can save my glorious mane from the teeth of a mouse?!
Some more time passed, and the lion noticed that the mouse was no longer scratching in his cave. Then he said to the cat:
- Look how afraid the mouse is of you. Out of fear, she does not even dare to move in her hole. To this the stupid, lazy cat replied:
“And I ate it a long time ago.” So now your mane is safe.
- So, there is no more mouse in my cave? – the lion exclaimed joyfully. “Then why are you hanging around here?” Now get out of here before I crush you!
And the lion barked so angrily that the cat herself did not notice how she jumped out of the cave and found herself at the top of a tall palm tree.
“Hearing the lion’s roar, the animals ran to the cave to find out who dared to anger their ruler. Seeing his subjects, the lion shouted:
- I'm tired of this impudent cat! You can do whatever you want with it! There she is sitting on a tree...
All the animals rushed to the palm tree, lifted their muzzles up and began to wait to see if the hated cat would fall out of there.
When night fell and the animals fell asleep, the cat carefully descended to the ground. Hiding in the grass, she began to make her way home to the village.
Perhaps the cat would have found its way to the man’s hut, but the big angry owl, who never sleeps at night, immediately noticed her. Whooping loudly, the eagle owl plunged its sharp claws into the cat, flapped its wings and, descending into its nest, ate it.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru