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The Poor Man and the Magical Cat    
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The Poor Man and the Magical Cat

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The Poor Man

and the

Magical Cat

A story from Brazil

 

 

 

 

 

*

Once upon a time, there was a very poor young man. He lived in a tiny hut with his cat.

His cat was extraordinary. It could talk, and it could do magic.

One day the poor young man said to his cat, “I have no more food left, and I have no money to buy food. What shall we do?”

“Miaow,” said the cat. “Do not worry. Do not be sad. I’ll do some magic to make you glad.”

The cat took two bags and went out into the jungle. He dug with his paws in the soft earth until he found some silver coins.

“Miaow,” he said. He purred with happiness because he had found the coins.

The cat put some of the silver into one of the bags for the poor young man. He put the rest of the silver into the second bag. He took that to the royal palace and presented it to the king.

“Miaow, here is a gift from my master,” the cat explained.

“Thank you,” said the king.

The poor young man was overjoyed when his cat brought home a bag of silver coins.

“There is enough here for me to buy food for us for the rest of our lives. Thank you, dear cat, thank you very much indeed.”

“Miaow,” said the cat. “You don’t have to worry. You’ll never be sad. I’ll do more magic to make you glad.”

The next day the cat took a bag and went out into the jungle. He dug with his paws in the soft earth. He dug deeper and deeper until he unearthed some gold coins.

“Miaow!” he said. He purred with happiness.

The cat knew that his master did not need the gold, and so he put the precious coins into the bag and took the gold to the king.

“Miaow! Here is another gift from my master,” the cat said.

“Thank you very much,” said the king.

The following day the cat spoke again to the poor young man.

“Miaow! You don’t have to worry. You’ll never be sad, I’ll do more magic to make you glad.”

The cat took a bag and went out into the jungle once more. He dug with his paws in the soft earth. He dug deeper and deeper until he unearthed some diamonds.

“Miaow!” he said. He purred with happiness.

The cat knew that his master didn’t need jewels, and so he put the precious stones into the bag and took the diamonds to the king.

“Miaow! Here is one more gift from my master,” the cat said.

“Thank you very much indeed, but who is your master?”

The king supposed that the cat’s master must be a wealthy man. He had an unmarried daughter, and he thought that a rich man would make a good husband for the princess.

The cat had seen the princess. She was pretty, but the best things about her were her kind eyes and her friendly smile. The young man also had kind eyes and a friendly smile. The cat thought they would be happy together as husband and wife, so he agreed to help the king.

When the cat returned home, he told the young man that the king had invited him to marry the princess. The young man was delighted until he remembered he had no suitable clothes.

“I don’t have enough silver to buy an outfit elegant enough for a royal wedding,” he said sadly.

“Miaow! You don’t have to worry. You shouldn’t be sad. I’ll do more magic to make you glad.”

The cat hurried back to the palace with a story he had made up.

“Oh your majesty, my master has a problem. The tailor who was making his new clothes has gone on holiday, and the clothes are unfinished. This means my master has nothing suitable to wear. Would you please lend him something for the occasion?”

The king beamed. “Of course. Come with me and choose some clothes from my royal wardrobe.”

A little while later, the cat returned to the young man dragging a suitcase full of the king’s nicest clothes.

“Wonderful!” cried the young man. But then his face fell, and he looked sad. “I cannot bring a princess back to this little hut. She deserves more than this. Where can we live?”

“Miaow! You don’t have to worry. You shouldn’t be sad. I’ll do more magic to make you glad.”

The cat went up into the mountains to a grand castle.

The cat knocked on the front door: Knock! Knock! Knock!

When a giant opened the door, the cat asked if his master could borrow the castle.

“No! Never! Certainly not!” the giant roared.

“Miaow! Oh dear, that is a shame because I want my master to live here with his wife.”

The cat twitched his tail. In a twinkling of magical stars, the giant disappeared.

“Now my master can live happily ever after in this lovely castle!” purred the cat.

That is exactly what happened.

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