Once upon a time, in an old dense forest there lived a hunter. He lived completely alone, he had no one except a dog, which he took with him on hunts, and a cat that guarded his house. In wild solitude, he learned to understand the language of animals and one day, quite by accident, he overheard a conversation between a cat and a dog.
“My dear friend,” the dog turned to the cat. – You live like in paradise. You are well fed, while I only get bones. And God knows what your job is. You sit at home all day and can go for a walk and sleep to your heart's content! I wish I had such a life! Otherwise, during the day I wander through the forest with the owner, and at night I have to guard the garden from thieves! And I don’t go for walks in the forest either - I have to chase game. Well, if the owner is in a bad mood, then he can beat him up. How I would like to be in your shoes! How nice it would be to live in peace for a little while! Can you give me any good advice?
“My dear friend,” answered the cat. – There’s nothing to be done: our destinies are different! You are a dog and I am a cat. Besides, you're stupid! Whatever the owner tells you to do, you do. He feeds you only scraps, and you are happy! And if you want to live freely, like me, listen to what I tell you.
The dog really wanted to ease his plight as a dog, and she pricked up her ears. Meanwhile the cat continued:
“I’ll give you one piece of advice, but, please, no one should know about it.” And then, if you want, thank me, if you want, no. It's up to you!
- Well, what are you saying, cat? How can I not thank you when you try to help me! I agree that we dogs are stupid, but we certainly cannot be called ungrateful. We never forget our benefactors!
The cat was very pleased with these heartfelt words from the dog.
- My dear dog! We animals must help each other. And don’t doubt my kindness and decency, no matter what they tell you about me. And my advice is this: tomorrow, when you and your owner go hunting, run away from him in the other direction. When he gets angry and starts beating you, hide. In the morning he will bring you leftovers, and you turn away and don’t put anything in your mouth. Just know whine pitifully. The owner will decide that you are sick and will feed you properly. He won't force you to guard the garden, and you can sleep peacefully at night. And he won’t take you hunting, so you can rest a little.
– Thank you, my friend cat, for your smart advice. Without you, I would vegetate until the end of my days.
The grateful dog was very glad that finally there would be relief in her joyless life.
The hunter did not show that he heard the conversation between the cat and the dog. The next morning, as usual, he got ready to hunt and called the dog. Following the cat's advice, the dog began to jump first in one direction and then in the other, which brought the owner out of patience. And when, unable to bear it, he decided to whip her with a whip, she ran away and, after loitering in the forest all day, returned home only in the evening. Following the cat’s advice, the dog refused to eat, and the owner, knowing the whole background of the dog’s tricks, decided to give her a break for a few days and took the cat hunting. Now the cat did everything that had previously been the dog’s duties: it had to find animals by smell and bring back game shot by the owner. The day before she died, she was tired, her feet were covered with calluses, and her whole body ached from the blows of her master’s stick. Having experienced all the hardships of a dog's life, the cat realized that she had given the dog unwise advice.
“You are the smartest cat in the world,” the dog thanked her. – I am very grateful to you!
Without answering anything, the completely annoyed cat silently trudged off to her corner.
Now the owner took only the cat with him on the hunt, and the dog stayed at home and, resting, gratefully remembered his unusually intelligent friend. The cat reaped the fruits of its “wisdom”.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru