who knows him

There was once a poor miller who when he died could only leave his children by inheritance the mill, an ass and a cat. In the cast the mill went to the eldest, the ass to the second and the cat to the smallest. The latter regretted his luck as soon as he knew what was his part.

• What will I do now? My brothers will work together and make their fortune, but I only have a poor cat.

The cat, who was not far away, answered:

• Do not worry, my lord, I am sure that I will be more valuable to you than you think.

• Oh yeah? How? The unbelieving master said

• Give me a pair of boots and a jacket and I'll show you.

The master did not quite believe in his words, but since he knew he was a cunning cat, he gave him what he asked for.

The cat went to the mountain, filled the bag of bran and traps and became the dead next to him. Immediately a rabbit fell into the sack and the cat headed towards the King's palace.

• Good morning majesty, I bring you in the name of my master the Marquis of Carabás - because this was the name that first occurred to him - this rabbit.

• Thank you very much cat, thank Mr Marqués for my part too.

The next day the cat hunted two partridges and again went to offer them to the King, who gave him a tip in gratitude.

The days went by and the cat continued for months carrying what it hunted to the King on behalf of the Marquis of Carabás.

One day he learned that the monarch was going to go out to the river with his daughter the princess and he told his master:

• Do what I tell you, master. Go to the river and bathe in the place that I tell you. I will take care of the rest.

The master paid attention to him and when the king's carriage passed by the river, the cat began to shout saying that the marquis was drowning. Upon seeing him, the King ordered his guards to save him and the cat took the opportunity to tell the King that outlaws had stolen the Marquis's clothes while bathing. The King, in gratitude for the gifts he had received from him, quickly sent for his most beautiful suit. With it on, the Marquis was especially beautiful and the princess was soon aware of it. So the King invited him to go up in his carriage to take a walk.

The cat was placed in front of them and as soon as he saw a couple of farmers reaping, he ran towards them.

• Good people to follow, if you do not tell the King that the meadow that you are harvesting belongs to Mr. Marqués de Carabás, they will make you picadillo like pie meat.

The peasants paid attention and when the King passed by them and asked them who the meadow was, they replied that the Marquis of Carabas.

They continued on their way and met another pair of peasants who were approached by the cat.

• Good people that you follow, if you do not tell the King that all these wheat fields belong to Mr. Marqués de Carabás, they will make you picadillo like pie meat.

And as soon as the King asked the reapers, they answered without hesitation that those fields were also of the Marquis.

The cat with botason continued his walk and they found a majestic castle. The cat knew that its owner was an ogre, so he went to talk to him.

• I've heard that you have the gift of becoming any animal you want. That's right?

• Well of course. You will see how I become a lion

And the ogre did it. The poor cat was very scared, but he went ahead with his clever plan.

• I see they're right. But surely you are not capable of becoming a very small animal like a mouse.

• Oh no? Look at this!

The ogre kept his word and became a mouse, but then the cat was faster, he caught it with a claw and ate it.

Thus, when the King and the Marquis came to the castle there was no sign of the ogre and the cat could tell that they were in the wonderful castle of the Marquis of Carabás.

The King was fascinated by so much splendor and ended up thinking that it was the perfect candidate to marry his daughter.

The Marquis and the princess were happily married and the cat only went back to hunt mice to entertain themselves!