There are three sorts of cats, but which one does its duty to the best of its limits?
There once lived a knight errant who was plagued by a large and clever rat and who had the run of the house. This annoyed the knight to no end so he went to the village to buy a cat. A street vendor sold him a cat that he said would catch the rat and indeed the cat looked trim and fit. But the rat was even quicker than the cat and after a week with no success the knight returned the cat. This time the vendor pulled out a large and grizzled cat and guaranteed that no rat could escape this master mouser. The rat knew enough to stay clear of this tough alley cat, but when the cat slept, the rat ran about. Half the day the rat would hide, but the other half he again had the run of the place. The knight brought the cat back to the vendor who shook his head in despair saying he had given the warrior his best cat and there was nothing more he could do. Returning home with his money, the knight happened upon a monk and sought his advice. After hearing the knight's story the monk offered him the services of the cat that lived in the temple. The cat was old and fat and he scarcely seemed to notice when he was carried away by the doubtful knight. For two weeks the cat did little more than sleep all day and night. The knight wanted to give the cat back to the temple but the monk insisted he keep him a while longer assuring him the rat's days were close to an end. The rat became accustomed to the presence of the lazy old cat and was soon up to his old tricks even, on occasion, brazenly dancing around the old cat as he slept. Then one day, as the rat went about his business without any concern, he passed close by the cat, which swiftly struck out his paw and pinned the rat to the floor. The rat died instantly.
Ron, I thank you so much for your crisp viewpoint. You have caught the notion alright saying of the fattiness and laziness as a kind of disguise; therefore, essentially, it is not fattiness or laziness at all, but a sort of strategy to do one's duty better than other skinny mousers. As for our children, I would recommend them to reread my other story named "Effortless Acting or Doing Without Further Ado" to realise what toil lies behind calm and confident demeanour so far. What's more, I'd like they start to practice this way as soon as better, without delay and waisting time for 'fun,' especially at school to weather severe times in the future. Cheers, Alex
The story is repeated twice. You might go back to the editor and delete the second one.
I found this story rather strange. Stories like this usually teach a moral or some good characteristic, especially, for children to read. By writing that the fat and lazy cat could do what the other cats could not, the outcome of this story is that being fat and lazy is a good characteristic if you are going to pretend not to be dangerous and then suddenly lash out.
I guess, what I'm saying is, unlike the tortoise and the hare, this story sends a wrong message when it comes to human, and animal, nature. There is a real reason why only the strongest and the best (even rats) survive in nature. We humans are very good at upsetting nature for our own purpose. That's why we can turn frogs into princes in our stories, but mother nature never would.
