Week 14: Reading Diary -- Lang's European Fairytales I

Lang's European Fairytales I


The Master Cat, Or Puss in Boots [p1, p2]
I...am utterly impressed with the main character, the cat who was left to the youngest son when a father split his meager inheritance between his sons. He left the oldest son his mill and the middle son his donkey. The only thing that was left for the younger son was the cat, who he was going to eat. Fortunately, the cat stopped him and essentially told the youngest son that he would give the youngest son good fortune if the son would provide the cat a sack and a pair of boots. Since the son knew that the cat was clever, he didn't feel that all was lost when he trusted the cat to make good on the word. So the first thing that the cat does is captures a couple of rabbits, and presents them to the king as a gift from the Marquis of Carabas, the title he created for the son. So he keeps giving the king good game for about two to three months and consequently wins some favor for himself and his master with the king. Then the sly cat sends the "Marquis" to swim in the river without him knowing why, just telling him that he will receive great fortune by swimming there. He then pretends that the Marquis was robbed and was drowning when the king rides past the river bank. Because the king already likes the Marquis thanks to Puss in Boots, he gives him a fine set of clothes. And since the son is already handsome, the princess starts to fall in love with him. And since both the king and the princess are so taken (in different ways) with the fake Marquis, they want to see his estate. So Puss in Boots, as they travel along a road, intimidates several groups of workers on a couple of farms to say that they are working for the Marquis of Carabas. So the king thinks the son is wealthy and wants to see the estate. So, Puss in Boots, knowing that there is a magical ogre with a huge castle, goes to trick him out of the castle. The ogre has the power to turn into any beast, and demonstrates this by turning into a lion. Puss in Boots goads him into turning into a mouse, since he says he doesn't believe that he can turn into a small animal. The ogre falls for Puss' taunt, turns into a mouse, and then is eaten by Puss in Boots. In this way, the cat gets his master an estate to complete the sham, and the son ends up marrying the princess.