Puss in boots

A miller bequeathed to his three sons



all he possessed of worldly goods,



which consisted only of his Mill, his




Ass, and his Cat. It did not take



long to divide the property, and




neither notary nor attorney was called



in; they would soon have eaten up the




poor little patrimony. The eldest



son had the Mill; the second son, the




Ass; and the youngest had nothing but the Cat.



The latter was very disconsolate at




having such a poor share of the



inheritance. "My brothers,"



said he, "may be able to earn an honest



livelihood by entering into




partnership; but, as for me, when I have



eaten my Cat and made a muff of his




skin, I must die of hunger."










The Cat, who had heard this speech,




although he had not appeared to do so,



said to him with a sedate and serious




air, "Do not be troubled, master;





you have only to give me a bag, and

get a pair of boots made for me in



which I can go among the bushes, and




you will see that you are not left



so badly off as you believe." Though




his master did not place much



reliance on the Cat's words, he had




seen him play such cunning tricks in



catching rats and mice, when he would




hang himself up by the heels, or



hide in the flour pretending to be




dead, that he was not altogether



without hope of being helped by him




out of his distress.















As soon as the Cat had what he asked




for, he boldly pulled on his boots,



and, hanging his bag round his neck,




he took the strings of it in his



fore-paws, and started off for a




warren where there were a great number



of rabbits. He put some bran and




sow-thistles in his bag, and then,



stretching himself out as if he were




dead, he waited till some young



rabbit, little versed in the wiles of




the world, should come and poke



his way into the bag, in order to eat




what was inside it.





He had hardly laid himself down before



he had the pleasure of seeing a



young scatterbrain of a rabbit get




into the bag, whereupon Master Cat



pulled the strings, caught it, and




killed it without mercy. Proud of his



prey, he went to the palace, and




asked to speak to the King. He was 



ushered upstairs and into the state




apartment, and, after making a low



bow to the King, he said, "Sire,




here is a wild rabbit, which my Lord



the Marquis of Carabas--for such was




the title he had taken a fancy to



give to his master--has ordered me to




present, with his duty, to your



Majesty."



"Tell your master," replied




the King, "that I thank him and am pleased



with his gift."




Another day he went and hid himself




in the wheat, keeping the mouth of



his bag open as before, and as soon




as he saw that a brace of partridges



had run inside, he pulled the




strings, and so took them both. He went



immediately and presented them to the




King, as he had the rabbits. The



King was equally grateful at




receiving the brace of partridges, and



ordered drink to be given him.




For the next two or three months, the




Cat continued in this manner,



taking presents of game at intervals




to the King, as if from his master.



One day, when he knew the King was




going to drive on the banks of the



river, with his daughter, the most




beautiful Princess in the world, he



said to his master, "If you will




follow my advice, your fortune is made;



you have only to go and bathe in a




part of the river I will point out to



you, and then leave the rest to me."





The Marquis of Carabas did as his Cat



advised him, without knowing what



good would come of it. While he was




bathing, the King passed by, and the



Cat began to call out with all his




might, "Help! Help! My Lord the



Marquis of Carabas is drowning!"




Hearing the cry, the King looked out of



the coach window, and recognising the




Cat who had so often brought him



game, he ordered his guards to fly to




the help of my Lord the Marquis of



Carabas. Whilst they were getting the




poor Marquis out of the river, the



Cat went up to the royal coach, and




told the King that, while his master



had been bathing, some robbers had




come and carried off his clothes,



although he had shouted, "Stop




thief," as loud as he could. The rogue



had hidden them himself under a large




stone. The King immediately



ordered the officers of his wardrobe




to go and fetch one of his



handsomest suits for my Lord the




Marquis of Carabas. The King embraced



him a thousand times, and as the fine




clothes they dressed him in set



off his good looks--for he was




handsome and well made--the Marquis of



Carabas quite took the fancy of the




King's daughter, and after he had



cast two or three respectful and




rather tender glances towards her, she



fell very much in love with him. The




King insisted upon his getting into



the coach, and accompanying them in




their drive. 





The Cat, delighted to



see that his plans were beginning to




succeed, ran on before, and coming



across some peasants who were mowing




a meadow, he said to them, "You,



good people, who are mowing here, if




you do not tell the King that this



meadow you are mowing belongs to my




Lord the Marquis of Carabas, you



shall all be cut in pieces as small




as minced meat." The King did not



fail to ask the peasants whose meadow




it was they were mowing. "It



belongs to my Lord the Marquis of




Carabas," said they all together, for





the Cat's threat had frightened them.

"You have a fine property there,"



said the King to the Marquis of Carabas.



"As you say, sire,"




responded the Marquis of Carabas, "for it is a



meadow which yields an abundant crop




every year."



Master Cat, who still kept in advance




of the party, came up to some



reapers, and said to them, "You,




good people, who are reaping, if you do



not say that all this corn belongs to




my Lord the Marquis of Carabas,



you shall all be cut into pieces as




small as minced meat."





The King, who passed by a minute




afterwards, wished to know to whom



belonged all the cornfields he saw. "To




my Lord the Marquis of Carabas,"



repeated the reapers, and the King




again congratulated the Marquis on his property.



The Cat, still continuing to run



before the coach, uttered the same



threat to everyone he met, and the




King was astonished at the great



wealth of my Lord the Marquis of




Carabas. Master Cat at length arrived



at a fine castle, the owner of which




was an ogre, the richest ogre ever



known, for all the lands through




which the King had driven belonged to



the Lord of this castle. The Cat took




care to find out who the ogre was,



and what he was able to do; then he




asked to speak with him, saying that



he did not like to pass so near his




castle without doing himself the



honour of paying his respects to him.




The ogre received him as civilly



as an ogre can, and made him sit down.















"I have been told," said




the Cat, "that you have the power of changing



yourself into all kinds of animals; that




you could, for instance,



transform yourself into a lion or an elephant."



"'It’s true," said the




ogre, abruptly, "and to prove it to you, you shall



see me become a lion." The Cat




was so frightened when he saw a lion in



front of him, that he quickly scrambled




up into the gutter, not without



difficulty and danger, on account of




his boots, which were worse than



useless for walking on the tiles.




Shortly afterwards, seeing that the



ogre had resumed his natural form,




the Cat climbed down again, and



admitted that he had been terribly




frightened. "I have also been



assured," said the Cat, "but




I cannot believe it, that you have the



power besides of taking the form of




the smallest animal; for instance,



that of a rat, or a mouse; I confess




to you I hold this to be utterly impossible."



"Impossible!" exclaimed the




ogre, "you shall see!" and he



immediately changed himself into a




mouse, and began running about the



floor. The cat no sooner caught sight




of it, than he pounced upon it and ate it.







In the meanwhile, the King, seeing

the fine castle of the ogre as he was



driving past, thought he should like




to go inside. The Cat, who heard



the noise of the coach rolling over




the draw-bridge, ran to meet it, and



said to the King, "Your Majesty




is welcome to the Castle of my Lord the



Marquis of Carabas!"




"How, my Lord Marquis," exclaimed




the King, "this castle belongs to you?



Nothing could be finer than this




courtyard, and all these buildings



which surround it. Let us see the




inside of it, if you please."



The Marquis handed out the young




Princess, and following the King, who



led the way upstairs, they entered a




grand hall, where they found



prepared a magnificent repast, which




the ogre had ordered in expectation



of some friends, who were to have




visited him that very day, but who did



not venture to enter when they heard




the King was there. The King, as



greatly delighted with the excellent




qualities of my Lord the Marquis of



Carabas as his daughter, who was more




than ever in love with him, seeing



what great wealth he possessed, said




to him, after having drunk five or



six bumpers, "It depends




entirely on yourself, my Lord Marquis, whether



or not you become myson-in-law." 



The Marquis, making several profound bows, 








accepted the honour the King offered him, 








and that same day was married to the Princess.



 



The Cat became a great lord, and never again








ran after mice, except for his amusement.








Be the advantage never so great









Of owning a superb estate,









From sire to son descended,









Young men oft find, on industry,








Combined with ingenuity,









They'd better have depended.




      



*       *       *







If the son of a miller so quickly

could gain







The heart of a Princess, it seems

pretty plain,







With good looks and good manners, and

some aid from dress,







The humblest need not quite despair

of success.

 *       *       * 

Fairytale by Project Gutenberg:
www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11









"Master Cat, or The Booted Cat"
(Italian: Il gatto con gli stivali; French: Le Maître chat ou le Chat botté),
commonly known in English as "Puss in Boots", is a European literary
fairy tale about a cat who uses trickery and deceit to gain power, wealth, and
the hand of a princess in marriage for his penniless and low-born master. The
oldest record of written history dates from Italian author Giovanni Francesco
Straparola, who included it in his The Facetious Nights of Straparola (c.
1550–53) in XIV–XV. Another version was published in 1634, by Giambattista
Basile with the title Cagliuso, and a tale was written in French at the close
of the seventeenth century by Charles Perrault (1628–1703), a retired civil
servant and member of the Académie française.[1] The tale appeared in a handwritten
and illustrated manuscript two years before its 1697 publication by Barbin in a
collection of eight fairy tales by Perrault called Histoires ou contes du temps
passé.[2][3] The book was an instant success and remains popular.[1]

Perrault's Histoires has had considerable
impact on world culture. The original Italian title of the first edition was
Costantino Fortunato, but was later known as Il gatto con gli stivali (lit. The
cat with the boots); the French title was "Histoires ou contes du temps
passé, avec des moralités" with the subtitle "Les Contes de ma mère
l'Oye" ("Stories or Fairy Tales from Past Times with Morals",
subtitled "Mother Goose Tales"). The frontispiece to the earliest
English editions depicts an old woman telling tales to a group of children
beneath a placard inscribed "MOTHER GOOSE'S TALES" and is credited
with launching the Mother Goose legend in the English-speaking world.[2]
"Puss in Boots" has provided inspiration for composers,
choreographers, and other artists over the centuries. The cat appears in the
third act pas de caractère of Tchaikovsky's ballet The Sleeping Beauty,[4] and
appears in the sequels to the animated film Shrek (film). Puss in Boots is a
popular pantomime in the UK.



 (Wikipedia)