Part One

Though one have nothing but a cat, yet his fortune can easily be made.

Once upon a time there was a miller who died leaving his three sons nothing but a mill, a cow, and a cat. The oldest son took the mill, the next one took the cow, and the youngest had nothing left but the cat. But his cat was a wise animal.

The young man did not know what to do, so he said:

“I think I shall skin my cat and eat it, then I shall sell his skin; after that, I shall die of hunger.”

“Not so fast, master,” said Puss. “Get me a bag and a pair of boots and we shall make our fortune yet.” So his master got him a bag and a pair of boots, and Puss ran off to the field to hunt. He lay in the grass until a rabbit ran into the bag, then Puss tied the bag up and took it to the king.

“My master has sent you a fine rabbit,” said Puss to the king.

“Who is your master?” asked the king, delighted with the present.

“My master is the Marquis of Carabas,” replied Puss, thinking that was as good a name as any.

The next day Puss caught two partridges in his bag and took them to the king, and said the same thing as before. Every day he took his bag into the field and caught some game and took it to the king telling him it was sent by the Marquis of Carabas. The king by this time began to think the Marquis must be a great man and a fine hunter.

Now the king had a beautiful daughter who had not as yet fallen in love with anybody, though many fine young men came to see her every day. One afternoon she and the king were about to take a ride along the river bank. When Puss heard of this he ran to his master and said:

“Master, master, come and bathe in the river and your fortune shall be made.” The master readily obeyed, and was deep in the water when the king and his daughter rode by. Puss ran out in front of the carriage and cried:

“Help! Help! the Marquis of Carabas is drowning. Some robber has stolen his clothes while he was in the river and he cannot get out!” Then the king stopped his carriage, told his men to hurry back to the castle to get some fine clothes, and they all waited until the Marquis could leave the river and put on the fine clothes.

After this had been done, the master came out from the bushes where he had dressed, bowed very low to the king and kissed the hand of the princess. She blushed very red and asked him to ride in the carriage by her side. She thought he was a very handsome young man, and he thought he had never seen so lovely a young lady in his life. To-morrow we shall see what happened.