all day and at night they had to bring all they had gathered for the
roosters. The king of the roosters would take all the food for himself
and for the other roosters.
The roosters loved to eat ants. Thus, every cat had a purse hung round
its neck, which it filled with ants for the king of the roosters.
The cats did not like the situation. They wanted torid themselves of
the king so that the food they gathered through hard work and great
difficulty would be their own. But they were afraid of the roosters.
The roosters had told the cats that rooster's combs were made out of
fire and that the fire of their combs would burn anyone who disobeyed
them! The cats believed them and therefore worked from early morning
until night for the roosters.
One night, the fire on thehouse of Mrs. Cat went out. She told her
kitten, Fluffy, to bring some fire from Mr. Rooster's house.
When Fluffy went into the house of the rooster, she saw that Mr.
Rooster was fast asleep, his stomach swollen with theants he had
eaten. The kitten was afraid to wakethe rooster, so she returned home
empty handed and told her mother what had happened.
Mrs. Cat said, "Now that the rooster is asleep, gather some dry twigs
and place them near his comb. As soon as the twigs catch fire, bring
them home."
Fluffy gathered some dry twigs and took them to the rooster's house.
He was still asleep. Fluffy fearfully put the dry twigs near the
rooster's comb but it was no use, the twigs did not catch fire. Fluffy
rubbed the twigs against the rooster's comb again but it was no use
they would not catch fire. Fluffy returned home without any fire and
told her mother, "The roost's comb does not set twigs on fire."
Mrs. Cat answered "Why can't you do anything right! Come with me I'll
show you how to make fire with the rooster's comb." So together they
went to the house of Mr. Rooster.
He was still asleep. Mrs. Cat put the twigs as near to the rooster's
comb as she could. But the twigs did not catch fire. Then, shaking
with fear, she put her paw near the rooster's comb and gently touched
it. To her surprise, the comb was not hot, it was very cold, and it
was just red colored.
As soon as Mrs. Cat realized that the roosters had lied to the cats
abouttheir combs, she joyfully went out and told the other cats about
the rooster's tricks. From thatday on, the cats no longer worked for
the roosters.
At first, the king of the roosters became very angry and said to the
cats; "I will burn all of your houses if you do notwork for me!"
But the cats said, "Your comb is not made of fire. It is just the
color of fire. We touched it when you were sleep. You lied to us.
When the king of the roosters found out that the cats knew that he
hadlied to them , he ran away. Now, whenever roosters see a cat, they
scurry away, because to this very day they are afraid of cats.
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