Why Dog and Cat Are Enemies
For the first half of this week's reading, I chose to focus on the Chinese Fairy Tales. Specifically, I want to retell the story Why Dog and Cat are Enemies. The reason I chose this story is because I previously wrote something really similar to this in the Jewish Fairy Tales unit, called The Quarrel of the Cat and Dog. Both of these stories are focused around why dogs and cats do not get along.
This story began with a man and his wife. They had a ring of gold, but they did not know the true power of the ring, so they sold it one day. They gradually became poorer and poorer, eventually being unable to feed their dog and cat. So the dog made a deal with the cat - the cat needs to find a mouse, take it to the chest where the ring is, and chew a hole in it in order to get the ring out. Then they can return home, give the ring to their masters, and they would have money again. So the cat agrees. The cat catches a mouse, they go to the house, retrieve the ring, and begin to head home. However, the cat is much quicker than the dog, so she is able to jump on roofs while the dog must go around the houses. The cat makes it home first; she receives all the praise for bringing the ring home and the dog is beat and scolded. The cat did not say a thing, and this is why they are no longer friends.
I like the story line because it is so imaginative. There are millions of ways that one can tell the story of why two different animals don't like each other. If I rewrote this story, I would want to change the ending to make it happier. I would want the cat and dog to still be friends, because I know my cats and dogs are the best of friends!
Image information:
Best friends. Web Source.
Bibliography:
Why Dog and Cat are Enemies from The Chinese Fairy Book, ed. by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921).
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