Cat hunters
Once upon a time, there was a little mouse called Mousie. One day Mousie decided that he would like to go cat hunting. So, he equipped himself with a cat-hunter hat, a pair of cat-hunter boots, and a cat-hunter coat. He also acquired arrows in a cat-hunter bag made of gunny and a cat-hunter rabbit named Bunny. More precisely, Bunny was not the acquisition of Mousie, but he volunteered when he learned about Mousie's plans. He claimed that he was an enthusiastic and experienced cat-hunter, who could be a rather useful companion for Mousie without any compensation. Mousie was delighted to find such a generous and competent partner.
Bunny took over the command immediately. First of all, he criticized Mousie's hat.
“What kind of a hat is this? Do you want to go cat-hunting in a green hat like this?”
“Why, what’s wrong with it? I read that hunting clothes are green.”
“They are green, indeed. But not this kind of green. This is garish green. Cats will deride you seeing you wearing this hat.”
There was no other choice than to go to the clothing store, where Bunny chose a green hat fit for cat hunting for Mousie.
“Oh, no! This is even more ridiculous than the other one was,” complained Mousie.
“Not at all,” said Bunny reassuringly. “The cat will immediately know that he is facing an experienced cat-hunter, and he will not even attempt to resist.”
Taking the opportunity of being in the clothing store, Bunny picked out this and that for himself and bought them, or more precisely—considering his temporary financial difficulties--he asked Mousie to pay for them.
“But you promised not to demand anything,” resented Mousie softly, since Bunny collected quite a few expensive things.
“Oh, not at all,” said Bunny refuting even the assumption. “All of these will be yours.”
“But these are all rabbit clothes. What should I do with them?”
“Well, that is none of my business. Maybe one day you'll make acquaintance with another rabbit, and you would like to give him a present. Then you can reclaim them, and I'll gladly return them provided that they will still be in acceptable condition.”
Mousie did not think that either in the near or in the distant future he would like to make acquaintance with other rabbits, but he quit arguing.
The arrows, nevertheless, appealed to Bunny quite a lot. Mousie was really proud, since he sharpened the arrowheads with his own teeth.
At long last, everything was prepared, and they started their journey.
“So, where is your infamous cat which we are hunting for?” asked Bunny jauntily.
“Well, there is no...” commenced hesitantly Mousie “concretely, there is no particular cat to hunt for. I thought of it…” he continued ever more indecisively “in general terms.”
“Concretely? In general terms?” Bunny blurted. “What a crap! Are we philosophizing or hunting?”
“Hunting!” replied Mousie without hesitation. “At least,” he added somewhat more hesitantly “theoretically, we set out to hunt. But now, if we would actually be confronted with a cat, then... well, I don't really know.”
Bunny became fed up with Mousie’s timidity. He sat down on a wayside stone and addressed Mousie.
“Enough of the rhetoric. Let's see the provisions.”
“Provisions?” flinched Mousie. “Is that also required for the hunting?”
Bunny indignantly held his head in his hands.
“What a question! Did you think that we would be hunting hungry and thirsty all day, or maybe even for several days?”
Mousie began to get somewhat fed up with the whole idea of hunting and most of all with Bunny. He launched a counteroffensive.
“If you know it so well, then why didn't you bring provisions?”
“Umm, yeah, I would have brought, but just before I left, there was that small ... er... you know what...” now Bunny was the one, who became more and more confused.
“Of course, I know, what else,” and Mousie waved his hand in resignation. “Don't take me for such a greenhorn to believe it!”
Before Bunny could clarify this greenhorn thing with Mousie, quite suddenly they heard some strange noise from a nearby bush.
“What's that?” asked Mousie in excitement.
Bunny just shrugged his shoulder. Then they heard the noise again. Now Bunny has perked up his ears, as well. There was, however, no need of special rabbit ears to recognize the source of the sound in the bush.
“Meeooow!”
The two hunters jumped to their feet. Mousie looked at Bunny questioningly.
“Should I shoot now?”
“Not right now,” whispered Bunny. “If you happen to miss him, you'll make him ferocious, and then we'll have a more difficult task.
“More difficult task?” Mousie now started to realize how severe the situation was. “He'll then slash us into rags like you would a leaf of cabbage or I would a piece of cheese.”
“Do you think that this cat is larger than me?” worried Bunny.
“I don't know but it may well be.”
“But certainly isn't quicker, is he?” asked Bunny with some hope in his voice.
Mousie shook his head in disbelief. By now, he became convinced that Bunny wasn’t more experienced in cat hunting than he himself. He even felt a bit pity for him, since cat-hunting was Mousie's silly idea, and now they got into this embarrassing situation because of that.
However, before he could lament further, the cat suddenly appeared in front of them with one effortless jump. He was just a little bit larger than Bunny. He looked at them with biting grin.
“Are we going hunting, wanting to hunt, eh?”
“Indeed... or not quite... actually in general terms... not concretely,” gibbered Bunny repeating the words he heard from Mousie.
Mousie joined in the conversation.
“No provision, either, since there was that small... er... you know what at Bunny’s place...”
The cat smirked.
“And what are we hunting for? For boar? Or for fox? Maybe for hare?” asked the cat as he stared piercingly at Bunny, who tried to sink underneath the earth. “'Scuse me!” added the cat.
Mousie and Bunny took a deep breath simultaneously to get ready to explain themselves, but the cat cut them short.
“Don't bore me with your story. The shopkeeper informed me. You are hunting for cat. So, here I am. Let's see, how far you get with me.”
Bunny straightened out and stepped closer to the cat.
“You know me. You know what a loudmouth I am. Yes, indeed, we bragged to the shopkeeper. It wasn't nice but we didn't want to harm anybody, least of all you. And most importantly, don't be angry at Mousie, since I was the one, who coaxed him into this farce. Look at the poor soul, what a pathetic costume he wears.”
Mousie was astounded by Bunny's monologue, and eagerly waited for the cat's reaction. Unexpectedly, the cat softened.
“Don't think that I took your threat seriously even for a moment. However, it wasn't nice what you did, indeed. I'll only believe that you really didn't want to hurt me if you prove it.”
“Prove it? How?” the two hunters asked surprisedly.
“Give me all your hunting apparel.”
Mousie and Bunny looked at each other. After all, they lost all their interest in hunting, why would they need the hunting apparel any more? Bunny felt a bit sorry for his brand new, expensive clothes, but began to strip obediently.
“I’d only like the mouse’s hat and his arrow. I couldn't make any use of anything else from him,” dealt the cat.
“Why? What use will you make of my clothes?” asked Bunny with some indignation.
The cat became quite friendly and talkative.
“As a matter of fact, I would like to hunt, as well.”
“Wow! Hunting for what?”
The cat leaned quite close to them, and as if he was telling a secret, said: “For dog.”
“Do you want to decorate your room with dog ears, or what?” wisecracked Bunny.
“Not at all. As a matter of fact, I would like to teach a lesson to only one dog, our neighbor's Bailey.”
“Concretely,” Bunny looked meaningfully at Mousie as if to prove how apt he was.
“Well, then, wishing you success,” Bunny sighed seeing how the cat put on his expensive clothes one-by-one.
Here and there the clothes were a bit tight, there and here a bit short, but all in all he looked quite handsome in them. He put on Mousie's hat and noted:
“It could be a bit larger, but it looks so cool that it doesn't matter if it is a bit tight.”
Finally, he threw on his shoulder Mousie's bag with the arrows. Looking at the arrowheads, he smacked.
“Look at that! That's what I call sharpening! They most certainly were pretty expensive, but they are mine now.”
He waved goodbye to Mousie and Bunny, and momentarily he disappeared behind a hill.
“Wowee!” screamed in relief the two would-be hunters. “This was a real adventure, after all.”
They headed back home.
“You see, I told you that the hat was perfect,” boasted Bunny, “he certainly wouldn't have wanted that garish green one.”
“Certainly,” nodded Mousie, but his thoughts were somewhere else. “Did you hear how he praised my arrowheads? I sharpened them with my own teeth.”
They walked so proudly as though they had seized a dozen lions. Mousie turned to Bunny.
“It was very kind of you that you tried to rescue me from the cat’s anger.”
“Don’t even mention it,” mumbled Bunny. “He wasn't actually angry at all, he only wanted our clothes.”
“But you couldn't have known that at that time,” insisted Mousie. “In any case, I already know how I will repay you for it.”
Bunny looked at Mousie questioningly.
“On our way back home, we'll go to the shop, and I'll buy as much provisions for you as you would like. Then we'll sit in the backyard, and have a great hunters' feast.”
That's what they did. Due to the big success, it was repeated several times. They invited their friends, as well, to have an opportunity to tell their hunting story, which became more and more adventurous with each time told. If you arrive there in time, you can listen to it yourself.
Once upon a time, there was a little mouse called Mousie. One day Mousie decided that he would like to go cat hunting. So, he equipped himself with a cat-hunter hat, a pair of cat-hunter boots, and a cat-hunter coat. He also acquired arrows in a cat-hunter bag made of gunny and a cat-hunter rabbit named Bunny. More precisely, Bunny was not the acquisition of Mousie, but he volunteered when he learned about Mousie's plans. He claimed that he was an enthusiastic and experienced cat-hunter, who could be a rather useful companion for Mousie without any compensation. Mousie was delighted to find such a generous and competent partner.
Bunny took over the command immediately. First of all, he criticized Mousie's hat.
“What kind of a hat is this? Do you want to go cat-hunting in a green hat like this?”
“Why, what’s wrong with it? I read that hunting clothes are green.”
“They are green, indeed. But not this kind of green. This is garish green. Cats will deride you seeing you wearing this hat.”
There was no other choice than to go to the clothing store, where Bunny chose a green hat fit for cat hunting for Mousie.
“Oh, no! This is even more ridiculous than the other one was,” complained Mousie.
“Not at all,” said Bunny reassuringly. “The cat will immediately know that he is facing an experienced cat-hunter, and he will not even attempt to resist.”
Taking the opportunity of being in the clothing store, Bunny picked out this and that for himself and bought them, or more precisely—considering his temporary financial difficulties--he asked Mousie to pay for them.
“But you promised not to demand anything,” resented Mousie softly, since Bunny collected quite a few expensive things.
“Oh, not at all,” said Bunny refuting even the assumption. “All of these will be yours.”
“But these are all rabbit clothes. What should I do with them?”
“Well, that is none of my business. Maybe one day you'll make acquaintance with another rabbit, and you would like to give him a present. Then you can reclaim them, and I'll gladly return them provided that they will still be in acceptable condition.”
Mousie did not think that either in the near or in the distant future he would like to make acquaintance with other rabbits, but he quit arguing.
The arrows, nevertheless, appealed to Bunny quite a lot. Mousie was really proud, since he sharpened the arrowheads with his own teeth.
At long last, everything was prepared, and they started their journey.
“So, where is your infamous cat which we are hunting for?” asked Bunny jauntily.
“Well, there is no...” commenced hesitantly Mousie “concretely, there is no particular cat to hunt for. I thought of it…” he continued ever more indecisively “in general terms.”
“Concretely? In general terms?” Bunny blurted. “What a crap! Are we philosophizing or hunting?”
“Hunting!” replied Mousie without hesitation. “At least,” he added somewhat more hesitantly “theoretically, we set out to hunt. But now, if we would actually be confronted with a cat, then... well, I don't really know.”
Bunny became fed up with Mousie’s timidity. He sat down on a wayside stone and addressed Mousie.
“Enough of the rhetoric. Let's see the provisions.”
“Provisions?” flinched Mousie. “Is that also required for the hunting?”
Bunny indignantly held his head in his hands.
“What a question! Did you think that we would be hunting hungry and thirsty all day, or maybe even for several days?”
Mousie began to get somewhat fed up with the whole idea of hunting and most of all with Bunny. He launched a counteroffensive.
“If you know it so well, then why didn't you bring provisions?”
“Umm, yeah, I would have brought, but just before I left, there was that small ... er... you know what...” now Bunny was the one, who became more and more confused.
“Of course, I know, what else,” and Mousie waved his hand in resignation. “Don't take me for such a greenhorn to believe it!”
Before Bunny could clarify this greenhorn thing with Mousie, quite suddenly they heard some strange noise from a nearby bush.
“What's that?” asked Mousie in excitement.
Bunny just shrugged his shoulder. Then they heard the noise again. Now Bunny has perked up his ears, as well. There was, however, no need of special rabbit ears to recognize the source of the sound in the bush.
“Meeooow!”
The two hunters jumped to their feet. Mousie looked at Bunny questioningly.
“Should I shoot now?”
“Not right now,” whispered Bunny. “If you happen to miss him, you'll make him ferocious, and then we'll have a more difficult task.
“More difficult task?” Mousie now started to realize how severe the situation was. “He'll then slash us into rags like you would a leaf of cabbage or I would a piece of cheese.”
“Do you think that this cat is larger than me?” worried Bunny.
“I don't know but it may well be.”
“But certainly isn't quicker, is he?” asked Bunny with some hope in his voice.
Mousie shook his head in disbelief. By now, he became convinced that Bunny wasn’t more experienced in cat hunting than he himself. He even felt a bit pity for him, since cat-hunting was Mousie's silly idea, and now they got into this embarrassing situation because of that.
However, before he could lament further, the cat suddenly appeared in front of them with one effortless jump. He was just a little bit larger than Bunny. He looked at them with biting grin.
“Are we going hunting, wanting to hunt, eh?”
“Indeed... or not quite... actually in general terms... not concretely,” gibbered Bunny repeating the words he heard from Mousie.
Mousie joined in the conversation.
“No provision, either, since there was that small... er... you know what at Bunny’s place...”
The cat smirked.
“And what are we hunting for? For boar? Or for fox? Maybe for hare?” asked the cat as he stared piercingly at Bunny, who tried to sink underneath the earth. “'Scuse me!” added the cat.
Mousie and Bunny took a deep breath simultaneously to get ready to explain themselves, but the cat cut them short.
“Don't bore me with your story. The shopkeeper informed me. You are hunting for cat. So, here I am. Let's see, how far you get with me.”
Bunny straightened out and stepped closer to the cat.
“You know me. You know what a loudmouth I am. Yes, indeed, we bragged to the shopkeeper. It wasn't nice but we didn't want to harm anybody, least of all you. And most importantly, don't be angry at Mousie, since I was the one, who coaxed him into this farce. Look at the poor soul, what a pathetic costume he wears.”
Mousie was astounded by Bunny's monologue, and eagerly waited for the cat's reaction. Unexpectedly, the cat softened.
“Don't think that I took your threat seriously even for a moment. However, it wasn't nice what you did, indeed. I'll only believe that you really didn't want to hurt me if you prove it.”
“Prove it? How?” the two hunters asked surprisedly.
“Give me all your hunting apparel.”
Mousie and Bunny looked at each other. After all, they lost all their interest in hunting, why would they need the hunting apparel any more? Bunny felt a bit sorry for his brand new, expensive clothes, but began to strip obediently.
“I’d only like the mouse’s hat and his arrow. I couldn't make any use of anything else from him,” dealt the cat.
“Why? What use will you make of my clothes?” asked Bunny with some indignation.
The cat became quite friendly and talkative.
“As a matter of fact, I would like to hunt, as well.”
“Wow! Hunting for what?”
The cat leaned quite close to them, and as if he was telling a secret, said: “For dog.”
“Do you want to decorate your room with dog ears, or what?” wisecracked Bunny.
“Not at all. As a matter of fact, I would like to teach a lesson to only one dog, our neighbor's Bailey.”
“Concretely,” Bunny looked meaningfully at Mousie as if to prove how apt he was.
“Well, then, wishing you success,” Bunny sighed seeing how the cat put on his expensive clothes one-by-one.
Here and there the clothes were a bit tight, there and here a bit short, but all in all he looked quite handsome in them. He put on Mousie's hat and noted:
“It could be a bit larger, but it looks so cool that it doesn't matter if it is a bit tight.”
Finally, he threw on his shoulder Mousie's bag with the arrows. Looking at the arrowheads, he smacked.
“Look at that! That's what I call sharpening! They most certainly were pretty expensive, but they are mine now.”
He waved goodbye to Mousie and Bunny, and momentarily he disappeared behind a hill.
“Wowee!” screamed in relief the two would-be hunters. “This was a real adventure, after all.”
They headed back home.
“You see, I told you that the hat was perfect,” boasted Bunny, “he certainly wouldn't have wanted that garish green one.”
“Certainly,” nodded Mousie, but his thoughts were somewhere else. “Did you hear how he praised my arrowheads? I sharpened them with my own teeth.”
They walked so proudly as though they had seized a dozen lions. Mousie turned to Bunny.
“It was very kind of you that you tried to rescue me from the cat’s anger.”
“Don’t even mention it,” mumbled Bunny. “He wasn't actually angry at all, he only wanted our clothes.”
“But you couldn't have known that at that time,” insisted Mousie. “In any case, I already know how I will repay you for it.”
Bunny looked at Mousie questioningly.
“On our way back home, we'll go to the shop, and I'll buy as much provisions for you as you would like. Then we'll sit in the backyard, and have a great hunters' feast.”
That's what they did. Due to the big success, it was repeated several times. They invited their friends, as well, to have an opportunity to tell their hunting story, which became more and more adventurous with each time told. If you arrive there in time, you can listen to it yourself.