Chapter 130 129. Cat Story

Once upon a time there was a woman who had a daughter and a step-daughter.She uses her stepdaughter like a cow and a horse.One day, she told her stepdaughter to dig radicchio.The girl walked and walked, but she didn't find the chicory, but she found a thick and big cauliflower. She pulled it up, pulled it up, and finally uprooted the cauliflower, but a hole the size of the mouth of a well appeared on the ground.There was a ladder in the hole, and she went down the ladder. There is a house in the cave, and there are many kittens in it, busy working.One kitten was washing clothes, another kitten was drawing water from the well, another kitten was mending clothes, another kitten was cleaning the house, and still another kitten was baking bread.The girl took the broom from a kitten and helped it sweep the floor, then took the dirty clothes from another kitten, washed it, helped another kitten to fetch water, and helped the kitten Toast.

At noon, a big cat came, which is the mother of the kittens.The mother cat rang the bell and shouted: "Di Lingling, Di Lingling! Whoever has done the work, come and eat; Di Lingling, Di Lingling! Whoever is not working, stand aside and watch!" The kittens answered with one voice, "Mother, we all work, but this girl does more than any of us." "Good girl!" said the mother cat, "come and have dinner with us." Then everyone sat at the table, the girl sat among the kittens, and the mother cat served the girl meat, macaroni, and roast chicken. or something, but it only made the kids eat fava beans.The girl felt very sorry to see that she was eating such a good meal by herself, and the kittens were not full, so she shared the food that the mother cat gave her to the kittens.After dinner the girl cleared the table, washed the cats' dishes, cleaned the room, and put everything in order.Then she said to Mama Cat, "Dear Mama Cat, I have to go now, or my mother will scold me."

"Wait a minute, my child," replied the mother cat, "I want to give you something." Downstairs there is a large store room, on one side are piled with silk goods, such as clothes, shoes, etc.; Cotton fabrics, including skirts, tops, aprons, handkerchiefs, and leather shoes.Mother cat said: "Whatever you want, take it." The poor girl, who was in rags and had bare feet, replied, "Just give me a homely dress, a pair of leather shoes, and a scarf." "No," said the mother cat, "you have treated my children so well that I should give you a nice present." She picked out a very beautiful silk coat, a large handkerchief embroidered with great beauty, and a pair of satin face shoes.The mother cat dressed the girl and said, "When you go out now, you will see some small holes in the wall. Put your fingers into the holes and look up."

The girl went out, and put her fingers into the holes in the wall, and when she drew them out, she wore a ring on each finger, the most beautiful rings ever seen.She looked up, and a star fell on her forehead.In this way, she dressed up like a bride and went home. The stepmother asked her, "Who gave you these beautiful things?" "Mom, I met some kittens and did some work for them. They gave me these presents." The girl told her stepmother all about it.The stepmother waited impatiently until the next day, and told her lazy biological daughter, "Go, good boy, and you will have good luck just like your sister."

"I don't want to go," answered the rude girl, "I'm not happy to walk; and it's so cold, I'm going to stay by the fire." But her mother grabbed a stick and drove her out.The slob traveled a long way before he found the cauliflower.She pulled up the vegetables and walked down the hole to the cat's house.When she saw the first kitten, she pulled its tail, then twisted the ears of the second cat, and plucked the whiskers of the third cat.A kitten was sewing clothes, but she pulled out the thread from other people's needles; a kitten was fetching water, and she stepped forward and overturned the bucket.In a word, she has been making trouble all morning, and the kittens are so angry that they meow!

At noon, mother cat came ringing the bell. "Dilingling, Dilingling! Whoever has done the work, come to eat; Dilingling, Dilingling! Whoever is not working, stand aside and watch!" "Mother," said the kittens, "we wanted to work, but this girl pulled our tails and bullied us so that we never got any work done!" "Well," said the mother cat, "let's eat." He gave the girl a piece of barley cake soaked in vinegar, and gave the macaroni and meat to his kittens.However, the girl ate the food of the kittens.After the meal, the girl not only didn't clear the dining table and wash the dishes, but she opened her mouth and said to the mother cat: "Now, you have to give me what you gave to my sister."

Mother Cat led her into the storage room and asked her what she wanted. "I want the most beautiful dress! I want the shoes with the highest heels!" "Okay," said the mother cat, "take off your clothes, put on this old oily sweater, and put on those shoes with the heels worn out." Put on a tattered scarf, and sent her off, saying, "Go away. When you go out, put your finger in the little hole in the wall and look up." The girl went out and stuck her fingers into the hole in the wall.However, countless earthworms were wrapped around her fingers.The more she tried to break free, the earthworm, the tighter she got entangled.She looked up again, and a piece of bloody intestines fell on her face and stuck to her mouth.She wanted to make this blood sausage smaller, so she had to gnaw it with her mouth.In this way, when she came home, her mother was so angry that she was uglier than a witch.This girl ate that blood sausage all day long, and she died of it in the end.But that kind, hard-working stepdaughter later married a handsome young man.We are delighted to see that the couple are very handsome and happy; you will hear my story, and I will go on to tell it later.

(Otranto area)