Reading Notes: Chinese Fairy Tales Part A

Why Dog and Cat are Enemies

(Cat and Dog Fighting from Wikipedia Commons)

Plot: There once was a man and wife who had a golden ring. This ring was lucky and ensured that whoever had it would always have enough. The couple did not know this and sold the ring. They began to become very poor. Distraught, their dog and cat hatched a plan to get the ring back. The dog suggested the cat catch a mouse and force it to gnaw a hole in the chest where the ring was and bring it back to the cat. The cat and the dog set out for the house where the chest is. They encounter a river and the cat rides on the dogs back across it. The cat catches the mouse and makes it do their bidding. The cat carries the ring in its mouth and the cat and dog cross the river together. On their way home the dog has to run around the houses in the village on the ground but the cat climbs on top of the houses and runs across them to get home. The cat gets home first and is praised by its owner for bringing home good fortune. The dog gets home and the owners beat him for being lazy and missing for so long. The cat sees this but says nothing while he eats his treats and sits by the fire. Because of this the dog and cat are enemies.

Lesson: There is not so much of a lesson here, just a story as to why dogs and cats don't get along.

Idea: I don't like that the cat is the villain in this story because I personally prefer cats to dogs (controversial I know). So for a retelling of this story, I would probably switch the roles so that the dog betrays the cat instead of vice versa.

Story Source: This story is from the Chinese Fairy Book by R. Wilhem.