The Cat That Walked by Himself

Part One · The Wet Wild Woods

Listen well, because this happened long, long ago, when all the tame animals were still wild. The Dog was wild, and the Horse was wild, and the Cow was wild, and every one of them lived in the Wet Wild Woods. But the wildest creature of all was the Cat, who walked by himself, and every place was alike to him, and he liked it that way.

The Man was wild in those days, too. He slept wherever he happened to fall, and he ate whatever he could catch. Then he met the Woman, who was clever as well as kind, and she said that she would not live out in the wet like a wild thing. So she found a dry cave, and she spread clean sand on the floor, and she lit a fire at the back of it.

She hung a mat of woven grass across the door of the cave to keep out the wind, and she set a haunch of mutton to roast over the flames. The smell drifted out into the Wet Wild Woods, as warm and delicious as anything could be. The Dog sniffed it, and he followed his nose until he stood at the mouth of the cave.

Part Two · Three Friends

"O my friend and wife of my friend," said the Dog, "what is that smell that is so good in the Wild Woods?" The Woman picked up a bone from beside the fire and said, "Wild Thing out of the Wild Woods, taste and try." The Dog gnawed the bone, and it was the most wonderful thing he had ever eaten, so he asked for another.

"Help my Man to hunt by day and guard my cave by night," said the Woman, "and you shall have as many bones as you want." Up in a tree outside, the Cat was listening carefully. "This is a very clever Woman," he thought, "but she is not as clever as I." Meanwhile the Dog came into the cave and laid his head in her lap, and he became the First Friend.

The next evening, the Woman cut a great armful of green grass and dried it by the fire until it smelled like summer. The Horse came to the mouth of the cave and asked where the Wild Dog had gone. "He is the First Friend now," said the Woman. "Taste this, Wild Thing, and carry my Man on your back, and you shall eat sweet grass three times a day." So the Horse became the Second Friend.

On the third evening, the Cow came swishing her tail, and she asked where the Wild Dog and the Wild Horse had gone. The Woman laughed. "Wild Thing, give me your milk every single day," she said, "and I will give you the wonderful grass." The Cow thought about it, and then she agreed, and she became the Third Friend. Up in the tree, the Cat yawned. "A foolish Cow," he said, and he went on his way.

Part Three · The Cat's Bargain

For a long time the Cat walked about in the Wet Wild Woods by himself. But one night he came to the mouth of the cave, and he saw the firelight and smelled the warm milk, and he sat just outside the light. "O my enemy and wife of my enemy," he said, "why do the Cow and the Horse and the Dog have a warm place to sleep, when I do not?"

"You are not my friend," said the Woman. "You are the Cat who walks by himself, and you have never helped me, and you will not help my Man." But the Cat was not so easily sent away. "Let us make a bargain," he said. "If you ever say a kind word about me, may I come into your cave?"

"If I ever say one kind thing about you," answered the Woman slowly, "then you may come in. If I say two, you may sit by the fire, and if I say three, you may have warm milk three times a day, for always and always." The Cat's whiskers twitched. "That is a fair bargain," he said, "and I will wait for it."

Now the Woman had a baby, and that night the baby began to cry, and she could not make him stop. The Cat crept in through the doorway and patted the baby's cheek with one soft paw. He tickled the baby under the chin, and he rubbed his fur against the baby's round knees, until the baby laughed and gurgled and fell fast asleep.

"Thank you, Cat!" said the Woman. "That was a very kind thing to do." "That is one," said the Cat, and he curled up in a corner of the cave. The next day, the baby wanted to play, so the Cat batted a spool on a string to and fro, and the baby shrieked with joy. "That is two," said the Cat, and he went and sat beside the fire.

Then a little mouse crept out of a crack in the wall of the cave. "Oh!" cried the Woman, and she jumped up. The Cat sprang after the mouse, and it shot out of the cave as fast as its legs could carry it, and it never came back again. "Wonderful Cat!" said the Woman. "That is three," said the Cat, and he drank all the warm milk he wanted.

Part Four · By Himself

When the Man came home, he found the Cat sitting by the fire. "What is that doing here?" he asked. "He is not our friend," said the Woman. "He walks by himself, but he keeps the mice away, and he was kind to the baby." "Then he may stay," said the Man, "if he is always kind to the baby. But if he is not, out he goes!" And the Dog said, "I will chase him whenever I see him outside the cave."

"Very well," said the Cat. He drank his milk and purred at the baby, and he chased a mouse or two. But when the fire burned low and the stars came out, he stood up and stretched. "I have kept my bargain," he said, "but I am still the Cat who walks by himself, and all places are alike to me." And out he went into the Wet Wild Woods, waving his wild tail, all by himself.