Week 14, Reading Diary: Brothers Grimm (Librivox)

Story source: Fairy Tales by the Brothers Grimm

The Queen Bee - I enjoyed this story. I liked how the youngest brother kept telling his older brothers to leave the ants alone, leave the ducks alone, and leave the bees alone. Then when he was in need of assistance, the ants, bees and ducks all helped him.

The Twelve Huntsmen - This was an enjoyable tale as well. I felt bad for the girl that was left behind when the prince made a promise to his dying father without thinking about it. She did a great job of finding her way back into the prince's life and getting him to remember her so that they could be together.

Huntsmen

 

Week 14, Reading Diary: Brother's Grimm (Librivox)

Story source: Fairy Tales by the Brothers Grimm

Rapunzel - Being as how Tangled is one of my favorite Disney movies, it is no surprise that this story is one of my favorites this week. I do think it was weird that the wife just wanted to eat some of the enchantress' rampion so bad that she thought she would die. I thought that part was a bit strange. 

The Traveling Musicians - 

 Statue of the Traveling Musicians

This was an interesting story. Each of the animals in the story were getting too old to be useful to their owners and ran away before they could be killed. I liked how they together scared off the robbers in the cabin and took over. And when one of the robbers returned, they got frightened and scared the robber into thinking that an old witch and a demon took over the cabin.

Briar Rose - I was really surprised at how much this story is like Disney's version. Disney didn't change near as much about this story as they did with some of the other stories that have been adapted.

Week 13 Storytelling: The dwarf's curse

The Dwarf's Curse

Thank you all for coming to the double wedding of the king’s sons. My brother and I are happy you all are here to celebrate with us. Many of you do not know the story of how I met these two lovely brides. So I will tell you the tale.

As you know, I disappeared a few years back. I was gone for nearly a year. I had been cursed by a dwarf who had stolen some of the royal treasures. The dwarf turned me into a bear and I was forced to live in the forest to keep from scaring the entire town.

One day as the weather was turning colder, I happened upon a cottage. I wasn’t sure how I would be able to survive the winter out in the forest all alone. I wished to sit by the fireplace and warm myself. I took a chance and approached the door. I knocked as gently as I could with my giant paws. A beautiful girl opened the door. She screamed and jumped back at the sight of me. Her sister hid behind the furniture. 

Me as a black bear

“Please,” I begged, “do not be afraid. I will not harm you. I only wish to warm myself by your fire for a while.”

The mother of the girls agreed to let me lie down by the fire and assured the girls that I would not hurt them. The girls were no longer afraid and soon helped make me more comfortable by knocking the snow from my fur. I lay by the fire all night and the next day they let me out.

I returned the next evening and again the kind family let me into their home. I returned to the cottage each evening. Soon we all became friends. The girls seemed happy to see me and I loved seeing them every night.

When spring came I told the girls that I would not be returning for a long time. They seemed sad. I explained that there were dwarves who, once the earth warmed enough, would come out and try to steal my treasures and I had to go guard them. I bid the family farewell and thanked them for their kindness. I then set out to guard my belongings from the dwarves.

A short time later, I heard from a bird, that the girls had been in the forest and encountered the dwarf. I was told that the dwarf had his beard caught in a tree and the girls cut off the tip of it to free him. Those girls are so sweet and would never do harm to anyone. But apparently that ungrateful dwarf swore at the girls and ran off. Hearing this angered me so much. How dare he speak to my friends that way?

After some time I heard again of my sweet friends encountering the dwarf. They had gone down to the creek and found the fool dwarf with his beard caught up in some fishing line. Once again the girls took pity on the dwarf and tried to help him. They could not free him from the line and had to cut his beard again. Once he was free, the dwarf cursed them for cutting his beard again. Why must he be so cruel to those who only try to help? 

the Evil Dwarf

Then one evening the dwarf had some jewels that he lay out in a clearing. The girls happened to be in the forest again and surprised the dwarf. They had seen all of the jewels and stopped to admire them. The dwarf started yelling at them again. Only this time, I happened to be nearby and overheard it all. I wasn’t about to let him bully my friends any longer. I jumped out and frightened the dwarf. He begged for his life. Then he offered the girls up to me as they would make a better meal than he. But I recognized him as the dwarf who had cursed me to the bear form. I took one big swipe at him with my claw and he fell against a rock and moved no more.

The girls had run away, but I called to them. They must have recognized my voice because they stopped. It was at that point that I returned to my proper human form. They were confused and I explained that I was a prince and that dwarf had cursed me. The dwarf’s death freed me from the curse.

I took the girls and their mother to the palace with me and introduced them to my brother and parents. I insisted that they come to live with us in the palace, in return for the kindness they gave me over the winter.

And that is the end of the story. My brother and I fell in love with the girls. And now, years later, we are married and this town has the kindest, most generous princesses that you could ever ask for. 




Author's note: I took this story from Snow-white and Rose-red. In the story the two girls live with their poor mother in a cottage in the forest. They are the sweetest girls and they always do everything together. I didn't really change the story. I decided to tell it from the prince's point of view. In the story, the girls do come across the dwarf, but the bear-prince doesn't know about it. Since I told it from his point of view I added in that he heard about it from a bird who saw it happen. I wanted him to be upset and angry about the dwarf's treatment towards the girls since they were so kind to him. At the end of the story the two girls get married to the prince and his brother, so I thought I would tell it as him telling the story of how they met to his wedding guests.


Bibliography: Story source: Household Tales by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm

Week 13, Reading Diary: Brothers Grimm (Hunt) cont.

Story source: Household Tales by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm,

Bearskin - this was an interesting story. I liked how the man made a deal with the devil in order to have money. He thought he had outsmarted the devil after he survived the seven years as bearskin. But in the end the devil got two souls of the sisters of his betrothed that killed themselves once they found out who he was.

Hans the Hedgehog - this was a strange story. I like that Hans the Hedgehog got his revenge on the first king and his daughter that had deceived him. I am happy to see that the second king and his daughter welcomed him, despite his strange appearance, and made good on their promise. I was surprised that he was able to shed his hedgehog coat to look human.

Snow-White and Rose-Red - I really enjoyed this story. That dwarf was an evil little thing. I loved how the mother and the girls trusted the bear and became friends. Their kindness towards the bear paid off in the end.

Rose-red and Snow-white

Week 13, Reading Dairy: Brothers Grimm (Hunt)

Story source:  Household Tales by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm

Hansel and Grethel

Hansel and Grethel - This is the tale of Hansel and Gretel that I remember I hearing as a child. I have always enjoyed this tale.

Thumbling - This was an interesting story. I like how the little boy tricked the men who bought him from his father and escaped. He was very smart and went through a lot in order to get back home to his parents.

Allerleirauh - Wasn't sure what to think of this story. The girl went out of her way to avoid marrying her father. But after living as a kitchen maid for a while, she made a point of letting the king, her father, know who she was, and ended up marrying him anyway. Not sure what made her change her mind unless it was just that she didn't want to live in hiding as a kitchen maid any longer.

Week 12, Storytelling: Liam's protector

Liam's Protector

the Dog

My dear sweet pups, I want to tell you a story of survival and loyalty and forgiveness. You know we live with the wonderful prince Friedrich and his sweet little son, Liam. They treat us well and it is up to us to protect them. Our loyalty to the prince is extremely important. He trusts us and we trust him. It hasn’t always been that way.

When I was younger, Friedrich would take me and our other dog friends out with him hunting. I loved hunting with our prince. I was really good at it. I also used to sleep at his bedside. It was my place to be next to him. He loved me and I loved him, and still do.

One day, I heard a strange noise coming from little Liam’s room. I heard the call of the prince to start the hunt, but the strange noise in the Liam’s room concerned me. I was torn, do I run to Friedrich to join on the hunt that I love so well, or do I check on the noise in Liam’s room.

I chose to check out the noise. Boy, am I glad I did. Liam was asleep in his bed, but there in the corner of the room was a wolf. The wolf was crouched down, about to pounce on the little boy. I couldn’t let that happen to my friend. I would never be able to forgive myself if anything bad were to happen to little Liam and I did nothing. So I reacted in the best way I knew how. I attacked the wolf. It was a bit of a struggle. The wolf was bigger and more powerful than me. But I had one thing on my side, my love for little Liam. I was able to kill the wolf, but the room was destroyed. Broken furniture and blood was everywhere. Liam was knocked over in his bed. It landed on top of him. I checked to make sure the boy was unharmed and then headed outside to await prince Friedrich’s return. 

the wolf

I was so excited to see Friedrich when he got home. I did my best to lead him to Liam’s room. When we got to the room, Friedrich started calling Liam’s name. He looked scared because Liam didn’t answer. It was then that Friedrich started yelling at me. I was scared. Then Friedrich started kicking and hitting me. I was confused. I didn’t know what was wrong. I thought he would be happy I killed the wolf. But Friedrich was angry. He continued to hit and kick me until I thought he was going to kill me.

I cowered in the far side of the room where the dead wolf lay. Friedrich started towards me, but suddenly stopped. He picked up Liam’s bed and found the still sleeping boy under it. He turned back towards me and then walked slowly up to the dead wolf nearby. He cautiously kicked at the wolf and then started to cry. He called to me, saying he was sorry over and over again. I think that maybe he thought I did something bad to Liam, but once he finally saw the wolf realized that I was protecting him. I slowly went over to prince Friedrich, and he gently pet me. He kept saying he was sorry and that he would never doubt me again.

For a while I had a hard time trusting Friedrich. I was afraid he would hurt me again. But he didn’t. I chose to forgive him for beating me. I realized he did it out of fear. Friedrich made certain that I was comfortable as I healed. I can no longer go hunting because my injuries were bad enough that I never regained my full strength again. But I am okay with that. Friedrich trusts me completely now. So much that I now sleep at the feet of little Liam at night. I feel honored that he trusts me. I am little Liam’s protector. 

Author's note: I based my story off of The Martyred Hound. In the story a prince takes his dogs out hunting. One day his favorite dog didn't come when called. The prince left without him. Upon returning the prince felt the dog was acting funny and noticed the blood on it's face. The dog led him to his child's room where he see's the baby's cradle overturned. The prince, fearing the worst, decided to kill the dog. Afterwards the prince finds his son unharmed and sees the dead wolf. He realizes that his dog killed the wolf, protecting the child. It is too late. I chose to change the ending. Instead of killing the dog, he beat him, but he finds the dead wolf before he fatally wounds his beloved pet. I wanted the prince to beg forgiveness for his brutality and to have the dog forgive him. I put this in the point of view of the dog, having him tell his story to the younger pups. I also wanted to include the importance of forgiveness and how trust can be regained.

Bibliography: Story source: The Welsh Fairy Book by W. Jenkyn Thomas

Week 12, Reading Diary: Welsh (Thomas) Cont.

Story source: The Welsh Fairy Book by W. Jenkyn Thomas
  
The Bride from the Red Lake - This is a story of a man who fell in love with a nymph in a lake. He begged the nymph's father to let the nymph be his wife. Her father agreed as long as the man never struck her with clay. They lived happily until one day, as they planted a tree, he tossed some of the dirt on his shovel over his shoulder for luck and some of it accidentally hit her.

The Devil's Bridge - The woman was grieving because her only cow was trapped on the other side of  a flooded river. A man dressed like a monk heard her cries and agreed to build a bridge but at the cost of the first living thing to cross the bridge. Not wanting to lose her cow, or herself, to him she came up with a plan to get her dog to cross the bridge first. Thus tricking the man.

The Martyred Hound - This story a prince was set out to go hunting and called for his dogs. One of them did not come. When the prince returned from his hunt, his dog greeted him, but the prince saw that the dog's face was covered in blood. Going inside, he found his child's cradle had been overturned and the child did not answer when called. The prince immediately thought the worst and killed the dog. Then the prince heard his child from under the overturned cradle and saw the dead wolf. The dog had killed the wolf and saved the child, but it was too late, the dog was now dead. This reminded me greatly of Lady and the Tramp where Tramp kills a rat in the baby's room and is sent off to the pound because it is thought that he was attacking the baby.

Tramp and the Rat

Week 12, Reading Diary: Welsh (Thomas)

Story source: The Welsh Fairy Book by W. Jenkyn Thomas

March's Ears - In this story there is a Lord who is unhappy because he has a secret. The secret is known only to his barber. The barber was sworn to secrecy, to tell the secret would mean his death. Holding on to the secret was eating away at the barber to the point that he was becoming ill. He told the secret to the ground and afterwards started feeling better. Later in the spot where the secret is told reeds are growing. A musician cuts the reed for a pipe to play and instead of music, the secret is heard.

The Stray Cow - This is a story about a farmer who captured an elfin cow. From that day forth the farmer was wealthy. After a time he was worried that the cow was becoming old and would no longer bring in money so he decided to fatten her for market. Before the cow could be killed, the elves came and took the cow away. The farmer lost all his money and was poor for the rest of his life.

Dick the Fiddler's Money - this was a short, but cute story. I loved how the fiddler got the money to pay his rent and after he paid for it and got a receipt, the money turned to cockleshells. The man never told where he got the money.

fiddler

Week 11 Storytelling: How the Leprechaun Saved his Gold

How the Leprechaun Saved his Gold

leprechaun

Hi! My name is Patrick and I am a leprechaun. Humans seem to think that we owe them money or something. Every time one of those humans finds one of my kin, they expect us to lead them to gold or treasure or even to grant wishes. Well, yes we have gold, but it is ours and ours alone. We leprechauns earn our gold by making shoes for all the fairy folk. I don’t know why humans treat us the way that they do. Once we were able to live out in the open, amongst the humans, but something changed. Now leprechauns, along with all fairy folk, have to live our lives in hiding. We live in fear of being captured. I have been captured before. I will tell you a tale of how I tricked that human into letting me go without giving up my gold.

One day I was sitting in the forest, minding my own business. I was working, as I usually do, on a new pair of shoes. I had with me a pitcher of my homemade beer. I was going about my work when suddenly I heard a voice. "God bless your work, neighbor," the human said to me.

Since I had been spotted, I knew it was too late to run. "Thank you kindly," I responded.

"Might you be willing to tell me what you've have in that pitcher?" asked the man.

"Aye ‘tis good beer."

"Beer!" said the man. "Where did you get it?"

"Why, I made it.”

“You made it,” the man laughed. "Might you share a taste of your beer?" said the man.

"It would be better for you to be looking after your father's property than to be bothering decent quiet people with your foolish questions. While you're idling away your time here, the cows have gotten into the oats and are knocking the corn all about."

I thought I might have had my chance to get away then, because the young man started to turn away from me, but unfortunately he caught himself and suddenly grabbed me. The big clumsy oaf knocked over my last pitcher of beer in his haste to capture me. I couldn’t share it with him now if I wanted to, which I didn’t. I thought all was lost. He threatened my life if I didn’t give up the location of my gold. What was at first just an intimidating encounter was now absolutely terrifying.

I agreed to show him where the gold was hidden, but in my head I was hatching a plan. I told him that it was a couple of fields over. He carried me in his huge hands all the way to the field I indicated. It was a gigantic field of lovely wildflowers. There were flowers of red and pink and white and blue, but there was most of all a ton of bright yellow boliaun. I directed the man to one of the flowers towards the middle of the field. 

Field of wildflowers

“There buried deep under that flower is my chest full of gold,” I told him. I knew that the man had nothing to dig up the ground with. He realized this as well and tied a red ribbon that he pulled from his pocket to the flower.

“Swear to me that you will not remove that ribbon from that flower,” he said. I agreed not to touch it. The man released me and was then off to get his shovel.

Now, you might think that my gold was lost to this man, or that I broke my promise to him not to touch it. ‘Twas not the case. I did not touch his ribbon. Instead, with the help of my fairy friends, I took more red ribbons and tied them to every yellow flower in the entire field. I watched from the far edge of the field as the man returned with his shovel and found the field covered in red ribbons. I have never laughed so hard in my life. The man stood there, stunned. Then he just turned around and left. I suppose he decided it wasn’t worth digging up the entire field just for a small chest of gold.

So there it is. That’s my story, my narrow escape from the hands of a human who only wanted my gold. Humans need to know not to mess with the fairy folk. We will work together to protect ourselves and each other.


Arthur's note: I based my story off of The Field of Boliauns. I thought I would tell the story from the point of view of the leprechaun. I didn't change the basic story, although I did eliminate some of the conversation. I didn't feel it was needed for my story. The story is about a man who discovers a leprechaun and starts by having a conversation with him, but when the leprechaun tries to distract the man so he can get away, the man captures the leprechaun and demands to know where the gold is hidden. The leprechaun leads the man to a large field of boliaun. To the best I can tell, boliaun is a flower, ragweed or ragwort. The man ties a red handkerchief to the flower that the leprechaun tell him the gold is under and releases him to retrieve his shovel. The man returns to every flower in the field having a red handkerchief tied to it.
 
Bibliography: Story source:  Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs (1892).

Week 11, Reading Dairy, Celtic Tales

Story source: Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs (1892)

The Field of Boliauns - I really enjoyed this leprechaun tale.  It is a story of how a man found a leprechaun and caught him. The man forced the leprechaun to tell him where the treasure is, but the leprechaun fooled him. I had to look up what a boliaun was and to the best I could find it appears to be the Gaelic name for Ragweed.

Boliaun

Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree - This is a story very similar to Snow White. The mother keeps trying to kill the daughter who is more beautiful. What I think is interesting is that in this story the daughter gets married. She is killed by poison from her mother and the husband locks her dead body away instead of burying it. He remarries and the new wife finds the dead one and revives her. The husband keeps both as his wives and the new wife helps kill the first wife's mother. Then they all three live happily ever after. It was really a different twist to the story.

Week 10, Storytelling: How the Thunderbird Saved the Mistletoe

How the Thunderbird Saved the Mistletoe

Mistletoe

 

Hi! I am a mistletoe. I grow in tree tops. But at one time, ages ago, I grew on the ground. I will tell you how this came about.

I was liked by many woodland creatures. I am green year round and I produce delicious white berries in summer, but also in the winter when all other berries were not to be found. It sounds like a wonderful life, right? Well, unfortunately it wasn’t. I love that my berries are enjoyed by so many, that is what they are there for, and I love to share them However, I was constantly having my branches stepped on, rubbed against, chewed on, and often crushed. This hurt me, a lot. I began fear for my life every day.

Eventually my leaves became droopy and some of my branches were broken. I was really quite a mess. I was becoming very sad. Then one day the magnificent Thunderbird happened by. He stopped to eat some of my berries and was very careful not to hurt me. He was even kind enough to thank me for sharing. He noticed my droopy leaves and asked me why I was so sad. I told him how I was afraid that I might die soon because of all the woodland creatures stepping and chewing on my limbs and breaking my stems.

The Thunderbird must have really enjoyed my berries for he found it in his heart to help me. “I will save you,” he said to me. “I will take you from the ground to the treetops where the ground creatures cannot find you.” He carefully carried me to the treetops. He placed me gently into the fork of a limb. Then he brought some soil from the ground and placed it all around my roots.

“Now you will be safe from the creatures that were harming you,” he said. “Only the birds can reach you and they will not hurt you.” But I was afraid that my seeds would fall to the ground and would suffer the same fate as I did. Then the Thunderbird had an idea. He wiped his bill, which had some of my berry seeds stuck on it, on the limbs of the trees. The seeds stuck. Now my seeds would also grow in the trees as I now was.

We mistletoe are safe thanks to the wonderful Thunderbird. I am so grateful. His generosity and kindness saved all mistletoe from a terrible fate at the hands of the woodland creatures on the ground.

Author's note: I took this from The Plant that Grows in Trees. I didn't change the story any. I just wrote it as if the mistletoe is telling the story. I thought it would be nice to have the mistletoe tell how miserable it was on the ground where the danger was and how grateful it was to have the Thunderbird move it into the treetops.

Bibliography:  Story source: When the Storm God Rides: Tejas and Other Indian Legends retold by Florence Stratton and illustrated by Berniece Burrough (1936).

 

Week 10, Reading Diary: Tejas Legends cont.

Story source: When the Storm God Rides: Tejas and Other Indian Legends retold by Florence Stratton and illustrated by Berniece Burrough (1936).

 There was only one story today that really caught my attention.
 
Old Quanah's Gift - I absolutely loved this story. I loved how although Quanah was injured and was no longer a warrior, he found a craft that he enjoyed and was wonderful at. He made this craft of weaving beautiful blankets into his career became well known all around. At his death everyone realized just what he gave to the society, how he had influenced everyone around him. He was wrapped in a special blanket he designed and buried in it. Afterwards a new flower grew that had the beautiful colors from his blanket. 

Indian Blanket

Week 10, Reading Diary: Tejas Legends

Story source: When the Storm God Rides: Tejas and Other Indian Legends retold by Florence Stratton and illustrated by Berniece Burrough (1936).

When the Storm God Rises-Of course I would like a story that involves a storm god. This story is about how the islands off the coast of Texas in the Gulf of Mexico came about. I enjoyed that it was the god deciding to save some birds from being hunted by the bad Indians. He caused a flood to drive away the Indians. As the storm waters receded, it deposited sand and mud into the gulf and created islands that became the birds new home and the Indians could no longer reach them.

The Plant that Grows in Trees- This is a cute story of how mistletoe came to grow in trees. The Thunderbird really enjoyed the berries of the mistletoe. So to protect the plant from being crushed by forest creatures, he planted the mistletoe in the trees.

Mistletoe

Week 9, Reading Diary: British North America continued

Story source: Myths and Legends of British North America by Katharine Berry Judson (1917).


Turtle and Thunder - The story about how a turtle was struck by lightning but didn't know what it was. He called for help and asked several animals to show their strength. He decided that some little turtles were the ones to be able to help him. Then his little turtle friends were struck by a rock that had fell on them. After finding out that the Thunderbird caused it, out of fear the turtle decided to stay in the water whenever a thunderstorm is near.

Turtle

Nanebojo and the Geese - Nanebojo wanted to catch some ducks and had his grandmother make him a sack. He took the sack to a hill near the lake and climbed inside it. He rolled down the hill, laughing the whole time. He held the ducks interest and soon they wanted a turn. He also got the attention of some geese, who also wanted to try. This was a cute story how he eventually tricked the geese to getting into the bag and he carried them home.

the Geese

Week 9, Reading Diary: British North America

Story source: Myths and Legends of British North America by Katharine Berry Judson (1917).

This week's stories were primarily origin stories.

 Coyote

 
Grizzly Bear and Coyote -  I enjoyed this story about a grizzly bear who wanted it dark all the time and a coyote who wanted light. The coyote was great at tricking the grizzly bear to agreeing that the sun was around half the year and the dark half the year.

Grizzly Bear

Why the sun is bright - This was a story about how you were originally able to look at the sun. A boy had a robe made of bird plumage that was really bright. The sun wore one that was made of goatskin. The sun traded the boy robes and now because of the bright robe made of bright bird plumage, the sun is now too bright to look at.

Week 8: Blog Ideas

I checked out a few different blogs and here are a few that had features I liked.
Alexandra - This is one of the blogs that uses widgets. I would really like to add a weather widget to my page.
Madison - I liked how this blog had links at the top of the page. It looks nice and seems easier to find than having them listed on the sidebar.
Caitlin - I liked that the title of the blog is in a different font. It makes it look fancier.

There were several blogs that have the background stay in one spot when you scroll. I need to figure out how to do that. I really like it when the background doesn't move. I'm going to have to work on adding some features over spring break so that it looks nice when we all return.

Don't forget daylight savings this weekend

Time Strategies

I have thought about changing my schedule, but I think that my daily Sunday - Friday plan is working fine for me. I haven't been exactly where I had hoped to be with it, but this layout gives me a little flex room. With family, work, and school, doing a little bit each day seems to be best for me. I had to drop one of my classes this semester. I am disappointed in myself, but it has lifted some of the stress of this semester.

It's not over

That being said, I will retake that class again in the fall. Next time I will be ready. Other than the one class, I have had a pretty good semester. I'm ready to reward myself with a couple good movies that are coming out soon. If you read my intro, then you know I really like comics and this is the year of Hero vs Hero. There are 2 coming out this spring. I have provided links to the trailers in case anyone is interested in watching it.

 Batman vs Superman Dawn of Justice Trailer                Captain America Civil War Trailer

Week 7, storytelling: Why Dogs Hate Cats

Why Dogs Hate Cats

 

My dear pups, “why do dogs hate cats so much”, you ask? Gather around and I will tell you the tale that my father told me. This story has been passed down from dog to pup for many generations. It was a long, long time ago. Back then dogs and cats were actually friends. 


There once was a dog named Max. He lived with this nice human couple and their cat, Mittens. Max and Mittens were friends. They played together, ate dinner together, and even slept next to each other in front of the fireplace. The humans took very good care of them both. 

Max and Mittens 

One day the humans noticed a hole in the lady human’s bag that held a key to a very special box. There were teeth marks all around the hole in the bag and rat dropping on the ground nearby. A rat had taken the key. This box must have held something truly important, because the humans were very distraught that the key was missing.


Max and Mittens did not like seeing their human friends so unhappy and set out to hunt for the rat. Max and Mittens searched the house but did not find the rat. They then expanded their search to the yard. After a while Max picked up the rat’s scent and he and Mittens took off in the direction of the scent. They came to the creek, but Mittens could not swim. Max took the cat upon his back and swam across the creek. They came upon a barn and went inside. The rat’s scent led them to a small area behind some boxes. Max was too big to reach in behind them, but Mittens was able to fit and went inside and found the key. Mittens took the key from the rat. Max and Mittens were happy that they were able to find the key for their humans. Now they could be happy again.

Old Barn

Max and Mittens raced home as fast as they could. Max again helped Mittens cross back over the creek. Once on the other side, Mittens took off as fast as he could, holding the key. Max could not keep up. He was too big to run under the fallen trees like Mittens did, and had to run around them. He could not run over the houses like Max, and had to run around them as well. Mittens returned home long before Max did. When Max finally caught up, the humans were praising Mittens for finding the key and returning it to them. Mittens was given extra treats and the humans were lavishing their attention on him. Max went in expecting the same loving treatment as Mittens. After all, they had worked together to find the key. One could not have done it without the other.


But it was not extra treats and attention that Max received. Max was scolded for not helping Mittens bring back the key. He was tossed outside in the cold without food. Mittens didn’t do anything. He just sat there in front of the warm fireplace and purred. Max grew angry at the cat for not saying anything. The cat robbed him of his share of the reward. It was then that dogs realized that cats are very selfish and from that day forward, they were enemies.

Sad Max

So remember pups, if a cat ever tries to convince you to be friends, beware. They will betray you the first chance they get. 

Authors Note: I took this story from Why Dog and Cat are Enemies. I changed the story somewhat. In the original story, the humans had a magical ring that whoever owned it would always have enough to live on, but they sold the ring not knowing it was magical. Otherwise the story is pretty much the same. I wanted to tell it from the dog's point of view in a story that was passed down from generation to generation. 

Bibliography:  Story source: The Chinese Fairy Book, ed. by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921).