PUSS IN BOOTS
Once upon a time there lived a Miller who had three sons.
When the man died he left the mill to his oldest son; the middle son received his donkey while the youngest son was given his only other possession, a cat.
The young man felt sad.
Seeing the young man sad, the cat went over and rubbed his head against the young man’s leg and spoke.
The young man was astonished. "Yes, I can talk," said the cat, "and if you will but buy me a handsome pair of boots and a large leather bag I will make you a rich and happy man.
Although the young man was poor.
And the few coins he had in his pocket was all he possessed.
He was so astonished that his cat could talk,
He went out and bought the boots and bag.
Dressed in his brand new boots,
the cat put bait in the bottom of his leather bag,
threw it over his shoulder
and set out over the fields.
Using his cunning the cat caught a plump rabbit.
Now, you would have thought the cat would have gone back to the young man and given him the rabbit to eat as he was hungry …
but no, the cat had bigger plans.
With the boldness of a lion
this clever cat took his plump rabbit
straight to the King
and presented it as a gift
from his master, the Marquis de Carrabas.
As he bowed low to the King,
he noticed the King’s daughter sitting beside him.
She was beautiful and when she smiled the whole room brightened.
He bowed to the Princess who smiled back.
Every day the cat came to the King’s palace presenting gifts from his master, the Marquis de Carrabas.
Every day he bowed and the Princess smiled back.
The cat soon became a favourite at the King’s palace.
One day he overheard the King planning a carriage ride along the river bank with his daughter.
He raced home and told his master, "Do what I say and fortune will smile kindly on us. Opportunity is knocking on our door."
The cat took the young man down to the river,
"Take off your clothes and get in the water."
As soon as the young man was in the water, the cat took his torn and tattered clothes and hid them under a big stone.
Then waited for the King.
As the King’s carriage approached the cat raced out waving his hands in the air and shouting to the coachmen,
"Help! Help! My master the Marquis de Carrabas is drowning."
When the King heard the name,
the Marquis de Carrabas,
he ordered the coach to stop
and the coachman to rescue the young man from the river.
The coachmen pulled the astonished young man out of the river.
The young man tried to cover his nakedness.
"Where are his clothes?" asked the King.
"Sire, he was set upon and robbed by wicked men who took all his possessions."
"Then we must fetch suitable replacements from the palace."
Dressed in the finest of clothes tailored by the King’s personal tailor the young man was presented to the King and his daughter.
He was taken by the daughter’s beauty.
She, noting his fine clothes and handsome looks, fell immediately in love with him.
The young man was invited to join the King and his daughter in the royal carriage.
As the carriage continued on its way,
Puss in Boots raced ahead.
He came across some peasants working in a field.
Drawing his sword Puss in Boots challenged them,
"When the King asks to whom these fields belong, declare,
‘The Marquis de Carrabas’,
or it will be the worse for you."
The frightened workers agreed.
The cat then came upon a village.
He told the villagers,
"When the King asks whose lands are these, declare,
‘the Marquis de Carrabas’,
or it will be the worst for you."
"These fields, sire,
and all the surrounding lands
belong to the Marquis de Carrabas.
"I am impressed, my Lord," said the King
The King’s daughter smiled and touched the young man’s arm.
The young man was even more astonished by the cleverness and audacity of his cat.
Puss in Boots came at last to a castle and knocked boldly on the door.
The enormous wooden door creaked open
and a large ogre presented himself,
"What d’ye want?"
The cat bowed low,
"I have heard you are fierce and cruel
and that people are afraid of you."
"What of it!" grunted the ogre.
"I have also heard you have powers to change yourself …"
Suddenly, a ferocious lion appeared where the ogre had stood.
Puss quickly scrambled and scratched his way up a nearby curtain, well out of reach of the lion’s sharp teeth.
From his safe perch high upon the curtain the cat’s confidence returned,
"That’s easy," he chided, "to change yourself into something so big."
But, you couldn’t change yourself into … into … say,
something as small as a mouse, could you?"
With a sneer the ogre transformed himself into a mouse.
Before you could say ‘Hey, diddle, diddle’ the cat had pounced on the ogre.
The ogre made for a very good supper.
Just then Puss heard the sound of the King’s carriage pulling into the court yard.
He hurried out to greet the King and his daughter,
"Welcome to the castle of my master, the Marquis de Carrabas, your majesties."
"So this is your home," the King said to the young man.
The young man had stopped being astonished by anything his clever cat got up to
His time was now occupied in the company of the beautiful Princess.
The ogre’s servants were pleased with their new master and prepared the most wonderful banquet.
After the feast, an engagement and a marriage all in the one afternoon.
The young man, the Marquis de Carrabas,
his wife, the Princess,
and Puss in Boots,
all lived, in the ogre’s castle,
happily ever after.
