Reading Notes: Chinese Folklore, Part A

 Why the Cat and Dog Hate One Another

Stories compiled from The Chinese Fairy Book by R. Wilhelm & Frederick H. Martens

• A man and wife have a ring which is magic, though they are unaware of this
• This ring never allows the owners to go into poverty, always provides enough for family to sustain itself
• The man and wife sell the ring in an attempt to pull themselves from the brink of poverty
• immediately, they fall destitute
• The Dog and Cat, seeing this, make a plan to find the ring
• The Cat catches a mouse and forces him to join their group
• The group sets out for the house of the man who bought the ring
• The come to a river and the Dog swims across with the Cat on his back
• Once the group s across, the Cat takes the mouse to the house
• The mouse sneaks into the chest and steals the ring out of it for the Cat
• The Cat takes the ring from the mouse and goes back t the Dog waiting at the riverbank
• They swim back across and head back to the man and his wife's home
• As the Cat was able to climb over obstacles, the Cat beat the Dog back by several minutes
• When the Cat returns, it is rewarded well by the man and his wife
• A few minutes later, the Dog arrives but is punished by the owners because they thought he did not help with returning the ring
• The Cat sat idly by and did not tell the owners the truth
• In a rage, the Dog began to chase the Cat, and they have hated one another until this day

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