At this noise the King put his head out of the coach-window, and,
finding it was the Cat who had so often brought him such good game,
he commanded his guards to run immediately to the assistance of his
Lordship the Marquis of Carabas. While they were drawing the poor
Marquis out of the river, the Cat came up to the coach and told the King
that, while his master was washing, there came by some rogues, who
went off with his clothes, though he had cried out: “Thieves! thieves!”
several times, as loud as he could.
This cunning Cat had hidden them under a great stone. The King
immediately commanded the officers of his wardrobe to run and fetch one
of his best suits for the Lord Marquis of Carabas.
The King caressed him after a very extraordinary manner, and as the fine
clothes he had given him extremely set off his good mien (for he was
well made and very handsome in his person), the King’s daughter took a
secret inclination to him, and the Marquis of Carabas had no sooner cast
two or three respectful and somewhat tender glances but she fell in love
with him to distraction. The King would needs have him come into the
coach and take part of the airing. The Cat, quite overjoyed to see his
project begin to succeed, marched on before, and, meeting with some
countrymen, who were mowing a meadow, he said to them:
“Good people, you who are mowing, if you do not tell the King that
the meadow you mow belongs to my Lord Marquis of Carabas, you shall be
chopped as small as herbs for the pot.”
The King did not fail asking of the mowers to whom the meadow they were
mowing belonged.
“To my Lord Marquis of Carabas,” answered they altogether, for the Cat’s
threats had made them terribly afraid.
“You see, sir,” said the Marquis, “this is a meadow which never fails to
yield a plentiful harvest every year.”
The Master Cat, who went still on before, met with some reapers, and
said to them:
“Good people, you who are reaping, if you do not tell the King that all
this corn belongs to the Marquis of Carabas, you shall be chopped as
small as herbs for the pot.”
The King, who passed by a moment after, would needs know to whom all
that corn, which he then saw, did belong.
“To my Lord Marquis of Carabas,” replied the reapers, and the King was
very well pleased with it, as well as the Marquis, whom he congratulated
thereupon. The Master Cat, who went always before, said the same words
to all he met, and the King was astonished at the vast estates of my
Lord Marquis of Carabas.
Monsieur Puss came at last to a stately castle, the master of which was
an ogre, the richest had ever been known; for all the lands which the
King had then gone over belonged to this castle. The Cat, who had taken
care to inform himself who this ogre was and what he could do, asked
to speak with him, saying he could not pass so near his castle without
having the honor of paying his respects to him.
The ogre received him as civilly as an ogre could do, and made him sit
down.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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