to do?”
The cat jumped off the chest, landing next to the dog without making a sound. Calmly, she tiptoed her way around the edges of the room, deep in thought. “We need help,” she said after a while.
“Help?” said the dog. “Who can possibly help us?”
“There must be many rats in this old house,” she said. “They can chew their way into the chest.”
The dog barked several times. It was a good idea. “But why would rats help us,” he said, growing exasperated. “They don’t like us! We chase them and torture them all the time.”
The cat purred and swished her tail. “Well,” she said, tipping her head to one side, “we can promise not to bother them for ten years. How about that?”
The dog agreed. He didn’t have any better ideas anyway. Before long, they found some rats.
“Fine,” said one of them, after hearing the plan. “We’ll help you get the coin.”
Just as the cat had imagined it, the rats had no trouble gnawing a hole into the chest. In a matter of minutes their search was over, and they had the magic coin back. At long last, the cat and the dog could go home to their master.
Triumphant and bursting with excitement, they stepped out into the sunny yard and made their way over to the river, eager to cross back for home. But they soon realized they had a big problem. The ice had melted, and the weather was so warm that a group of boys were swimming and playing along the water’s edge.
“How will we ever cross this river?” cried the cat. “I can’t swim!”
“But I can!” said the dog, wagging his tail. “You hold the coin in your mouth and climb on my back. I can carry you across.” The cat did as he said, clinging to the dog as he waded into the river. The dog valiantly paddled against the current, barely keeping his head above water.
One of the boys soon caught sight of them. “Look at that!” he said, pointing at the cat and the dog. “I’ve never seen a boat like that before!”
The other children looked over and began to laugh. But the dog was determined to cross. Panting, he kept his eyes on the opposite bank and stayed on course.
On top, the scared and shivering cat hung on to the dog with all her might. She dug her claws into his back, deeper and deeper.
“Are you okay up there?” the dog asked, knowing how afraid of water his friend was. But before she could answer, the children began laughing hysterically.
“Look at them bobbing up and down!” they said, giggling.
The dog ignored the commotion all around him. His only thought was to bring the coin back to his master. But in spite of her fear, the cat couldn’t keep a straight face. She began to think about how silly she must look to the children, all wet and shaking. No matter how hard she tried, the cat couldn’t stifle her laughter. When she finally lost control and began to laugh, the silver coin slipped out of her mouth, immediately sinking to the bottom of the river.
“Ack!” she said. “I’ve dropped the coin!”
As soon as he heard these words, the dog plunged into the rushing waters to save the coin. He was so angry with the cat that he didn’t care if she could swim or not. After having searched for the magic coin for months, the foolish cat had lost it!
But no matter how long the dog stayed underwater, no matter how hard he looked, there was no sign of the coin. It had disappeared.
By some miracle, the cat managed to make it to shore, where she shook the water out of her fur and coughed and spat until she’d expelled all the water she’d swallowed. But things would never be the same again between her and the dog.
Once the dog saw the cat, he started to chase her. To escape, the cat did what cats always do: she ran up a tree. She sank her claws into the branch, her fur standing on end. Hissing angrily at the dog, the cat vowed never to trust him again. He had left her to drown!
The dog barked fiercely at her and scratched at the tree trunk, trying to climb up it. He had never been angrier in his entire life.
Both the cat and the dog were ready for a big fight.
But finally, his throat sore from barking, the dog gave up and returned to his master’s house. The cat escaped and never returned.
And this is why even today, when more time has passed than you can imagine, cats and dogs don’t get along.
But what do you think happened to Shu? He was so happy that at least one of his pets came home he almost forgot about the missing coin. The dog could not forget, though. He couldn’t stand to see his master suffer hunger or bear the cold winter. So he sat beside the river each day, trying to figure out a way to get the magic coin back.
One day, the dog saw a fisherman pull a large fish from the water. When the man cut it open, out fell the magic coin. The dog quickly grabbed the coin with his mouth and ran home to his master, who was very pleased to see the coin again. Together they reopened the small rice shop and lived out the rest of their lives very happily.
The Clever Rabbit
and Numskull
Sulka’s whiskers twitched nervously. He tried hard to remember the happy days of long ago. He was once a sprightly young rabbit who spent carefree days bounding about with his friends and rummaging for snacks. But today was to be his last. He was not only going to face a lion, he was going to offer himself up as this terrible lion’s meal!
Be brave, he told himself, his chin quivering. You have had a long life surrounded by other rabbits who loved you. You have been blessed. Remember that you have to do this for the other rabbits—the younger ones who still have their whole lives ahead of them.
Smiling wistfully, Sulka thought of his wife and twenty-four children. Now they would never be in danger from the lion Numskull. All the animals were afraid of Numskull, and not only because he was fierce. No, lions were fierce by nature. The animals dreaded him because he hunted, chased down, and killed pretty much anything that moved—and very often he would leave his prey out in the hot sun to rot without even eating it.
To put a stop to all this random violence, the animals had decided that a select few would go to Numskull each day and sacrifice themselves for his dinner. This way the old and weak animals could go first, sparing the young and healthy ones. Although many animals would still die, they would at least die with the purpose of feeding another, and their deaths
