The Chinese Wonder Book. Norman Hinsdale Pitman

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СКАЧАТЬ had been going on for some time, whitehead began suddenly to frisk about in great excitement.

      “Whatever is the matter with you?” growled Blackfoot. “Are you mad from hunger, or have you caught another flea?”

      “I was just thinking over our affairs, and now I know the cause of all our trouble.”

      “Do you indeed?” sneered Blackfoot.

      “Yes, I do indeed, and you’d better think twice before you mock me, for I hold your future in my paw, as you will very soon see.”

      “well, you needn’t get angry about nothing. what wonderful discovery have you made— that every rat has one tail?”

      “First of all, are you willing to help me bring good fortune back to our family?”

      “Of course I am. Don’t be silly,” barked the dog, wagging his tail joyfully at the thought of another good dinner. “Surely! surely! I will do anything you like if it will bring Dame Fortune back again.”

      “All right. Here is the plan. There has been a thief in the house who has stolen our mistress’s golden beetle. You remember all our big dinners that came from the pot? Well, every day I saw our mistress take a little golden beetle out of the black box and put it into the pot. One day she held it up before me, saying, ‘Look, puss, there is the cause of all our happiness. Don’t you wish it was yours?’ Then she laughed and put it back into the box that stays in the cupboard.”

      “Is that true?” questioned Blackfoot. “Why didn’t you say something about it before?”

      "You remember the day Mr. and Mrs. Zhu were here, and how Mrs. Zhu returned in the afternoon after master and mistress had gone to the fair? I saw her, out of the tail of my eye, go to that very black box and take out the golden beetle. I thought it curious, but never dreamed she was a thief. Alas! I was wrong! She took the beetle, and if I am not mistaken, she and her husband are now enjoying the feasts that belong to us.”

      “Let’s claw them,” growled Blackfoot, gnashing his teeth.

      “That would do no good,” counseled the other, “for they would be sure to come out best in the end. we want the beetle back—that’s the main thing. we’ll leave revenge to human beings; it is none of our business.”

      “What do you suggest?” said Blackfoot. “I am with you through thick and thin.”

      “Let’s go to the Zhu house and make off with the beetle.”

      “Alas, that I am not a cat!” moaned Blackfoot. “If we go there I couldn’t get inside, for robbers always keep their gates well locked. If I were like you I could scale the wall. It is the first time in all my life I ever envied a cat.”

      “We will go together,” continued Whitehead. “I will ride on your back when we are fording the river, and you can protect me from strange animals. when we get to the Zhu house, I will climb over the wall and manage the rest of the business myself. Only you must wait outside to help me to get home with the prize.”

      No sooner arranged than done. The companions set out that very night on their adventure. They crossed the river as the cat had suggested, and Blackfoot really enjoyed the swim, for, as he said, it took him back to his puppyhood, while the cat did not get a single drop of water on her face. It was midnight when they reached the Zhu house.

      “Just wait until I return,” purred Whitehead in Blackfoot’s ear.

      With a mighty spring she reached the top of the mud wall, and then jumped down to the inside court. while she was resting in the shadow, trying to decide just how to go about her work, a slight rustling attracted her attention, and pop! one giant spring, one stretch-out of the claws, and she had caught a rat that had just come out of his hole for a drink and a midnight walk.

      Now, whitehead was so hungry that she would have made short work of this tempting prey if the rat had not opened its mouth and, to her amazement, begun to talk in good cat dialect.

      “Pray, good puss, not so fast with your sharp teeth! Kindly be careful with your claws! Don’t you know it is the custom now to put prisoners on their honor? I will promise not to run away.”

      “Pooh! what honor has a rat?”

      “Most of us haven’t much, I grant you, but my family was brought up under the roof of Confucius, and there we picked up so many crumbs of wisdom that we are exceptions to the rule. If you will spare me, I will obey you for life, in fact, will be your humble slave.” Then, with a quick jerk, freeing itself, “See, I am loose now, but honor holds me as if I were tied, and so I make no further attempt to get away.”

      “Much good it would do you,” purred Whitehead, her fur crackling noisily, and her mouth watering for a taste of rat steak. “However, I am quite willing to put you to the test. First, answer a few polite questions and I will see if you’re a truthful fellow. what kind of food is your master eating now, that you should be so round and plump when I am thin and scrawny?”

      “Oh, we have been in luck lately, I can tell you. Master and mistress feed on the fat of the land, and of course we hangers-on get the crumbs.”

      “But this is a poor tumble-down house. How can they afford such eating?”

      “That is a great secret, but as I am in honor bound to tell you, here goes. My mistress has just obtained in some manner or other, a fairy’s charm—“

      “She stole it from our place,” hissed the cat, “I will claw her eyes out if I get the chance. Why, we’ve been fairly starving for want of that beetle. She stole it from us just after she had been an invited guest! What do you think of that for honor, Sir Rat? Were your mistress’s ancestors followers of the sage?”

      “Oh, oh, oh! Why, that explains everything!” wailed the rat. “I have often wondered how they got the golden beetle, and yet of course I dared not ask any questions.”

      “No, certainly not! But hark you, friend rat—you get that golden trinket back for me, and I will set you free at once of all obligations. Do you know where she hides it?”

      “Yes, in a crevice where the wall is broken. I will bring it to you in a jiffy, but how shall we exist when our charm is gone? There will be a season of scanty food, I fear; beggars’ fare for all of us.”

      “Live on the memory of your good deed,” purred the cat. “It is splendid, you know, to be an honest beggar. Now scoot! I trust you completely, since your people lived in the home of Confucius. I will wait here for your return. Ah!” laughed Whitehead to herself, “luck seems to be coming our way again!”

      Five minutes later the rat appeared, bearing the trinket in its mouth. It passed the beetle over to the cat, and then with a whisk was off for ever. Its honor was safe, but it was afraid of whitehead. It had seen the gleam of desire in her green eyes, and the cat might have broken her word if she had not been so anxious to get back home where her mistress could command the wonderful kettle once more to bring forth food.

      The two adventurers reached the river just as the sun was rising above the eastern hills.

      “Be careful,” cautioned Blackfoot, as the cat leaped upon his back for her ride across the stream, “be careful not to forget the treasure. In short, remember that even though you are a female, it is necessary to keep your mouth closed until we reach СКАЧАТЬ