The Lazy Cat

: The Folk-tales Of The Magyars

A lad married a lazy rich girl, and he made a vow that he would never

beat her. The missis never did any work but went about from house to

house gossiping and making all kinds of mischief, but still her husband

never beat her. One morning as he was going out to his work he said to

the cat, "You cat, I command you to do everything that is needed in the

house. While I am away put everything in order, cook the dinner, and do

/> some spinning; if you don't, I'll give you such a thrashing as you won't

forget." The cat listened to his speech half asleep, blinking on the

hearth. The woman thought to herself, "My husband has gone mad." So she

said, "Why do you order the cat to do all these things, which she knows

nothing about?" "Whether she does or whether she doesn't it's all the

same to me, wife. I have no one else whom I can ask to do anything; and

if she does not do all that I have ordered her to do you will see that I

will give her such a thrashing as she will never forget." With this he

went out to work, and the wife began to talk to the cat and said, "You

had better get your work done, or he will beat you;" but the cat did not

work, and the wife went from house to house gossiping. When she came

home the cat was asleep on the hearth, and the fire had gone out; so she

said, "Make the fire up, cat, and get your work done, or you will get a

sound thrashing;" but the cat did no work. In the evening the master

came home and found that nothing was done and that his orders were not

carried out; so he took hold of the cat by its tail and fastened it to

his wife's back, and began to beat till his wife cried out, "Don't beat

that cat any more! Don't beat that cat any more! it is not her fault,

she cannot help it, she does not understand these things." "Will you

promise then that you will do it all in her stead?" inquired her

husband. "I will do it all and even more than you order," replied his

wife, "if you will only leave off beating that cat."



The woman then ran off home to complain to her mother of all these

things, and said, "I have promised that I will do all the work instead

of the cat, in order to prevent my husband beating her to death on my

back." And then her father spoke up and said, "If you have promised to

do it you must do it; if not, the cat will get a thrashing to-morrow."

And he sent her back to her husband.



Next time the master again ordered the cat what she had to do, and she

did nothing again. So she got another beating on the wife's back, who

ran home again to complain; but her father drove her back, and she ran

so fast that her foot did not touch the ground as she went.



On the third morning again the master commenced to give his commands to

the cat, who, however, was too frightened to listen, and did no work

that day; but this time the mistress did her work for her. She forgot no

one thing she had promised--she lighted the fire, fetched water, cooked

the food, swept the house, and put everything in order; for she was

frightened lest her husband should beat the poor cat again; for the

wretched animal in its agony stuck its claws into her back, and,

besides, the end of the two-tailed whip reached further than the cat's

back, so that with every stroke she received one as well as the cat.

When her husband came home everything was in order, and he kept

muttering, "Don't be afraid, cat, I won't thrash you this time;" and his

wife laid the cloth joyfully, dished up the food, and they had a good

meal in peace.



After that the cat had no more beatings, and the mistress became such a

good housewife that you could not wish for a better.



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