Friday, February 12, 2016

Storytelling Week 4: The not so Lean Cat

Author's Note: In Bidpai's story, the lean cat meets the fat cat, who hears his story about how he got so fat. The fat cat has been stealing scraps from the king’s table. The lean cat develops a huge interest in this, and seeks out food from the king’s table. This fable goes into how the lean cat's master did not want the lean cat to go to the kings palace, for surely the lean cat would get caught. And the king had just issued a decree that if he caught a cat stealing food from his table that he would make sure that the cat got hung.

In the original story, he gets caught stealing food from the king's table. I thought this was no fun, and am going to rewrite the ending of the story on how the lean cat actually got away. I wanted to try to create a story where the cat got rewarded by his master for bring food home, and give a happy ending. This is the original image from Bidpai's story that I have included, because I thought it did a really good job of helping me imagine what the lean cat would look like.

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As the fat cat turned away, the lean cat was not to be discouraged. He could smell the food in front of him, more food than he had ever seen in his life. He had heard the king's decree, that any cat caught stealing food from his table would be hung. But, desperation prevailed, and the lean cat could not turn away from such delicious smells. 

As he approached the dining hall, he remained in the shadows. He knew how risky this was, and wanted to make sure that he would not get caught. He also wanted to make sure he got the most food possible. As he scanned the table, trying to decide what he wanted, he spied an entire roasted chicken. He knew it was ambitious, to escape with an entire chicken, but once he had laid his eyes on it, he could not turn away. That could feed him and his master for a week! He decided that that is what he would try to take. 

The cat watched the servants carefully, trying to monitor their movements, and decide when the best time to strike would be. The king had not yet been seated, but that would be soon so the cat knew his time was running out. As soon as the servant in front of him exited the room, the cat bounced on top of the table. He had it! The chicken was in his mouth. As he was about to jump down, he heard shouting behind him. He had been seen! Quickly, motivated by the fear of death, he jumped down and scurried away to where the servants could not find him. 


The Lean Cat
Source: UnTextbook

He had done it! He had the chicken and was outside of the gates. As he made his way home, he could not stop thinking about how excited his master would be when he delivered an entire chicken to her. Upon arriving at his doorstep, he bounded inside to see his masters face light up. "Wonderful" she exclaimed, both excited for the food and that her cat had returned to her, for she thought that surely her cat would be killed. 

After this successful run, the lean cat was no longer the lean cat, he joined the other cats and became quite fat. He was an expert at stealing food from the masters table, and did it on a regular basis. His master was more than taken care of, and both had never been happier. 

Bibliography: This story is based on Bidpai's story The Lean Cat and the Fat Cat, written by Bidpai and published by Maude Barrows in 1908. Link

6 comments:

  1. Hi, Mac! This was an interesting take on the story. I feel like the lean cat and I have a lot in common. Roasted chicken? Yes sir, I would take that and run any day! I liked how you changed the story's ending so that the lean cat shared its chicken. The best part was when the lean cat became the fat cat. Who doesn't like a happy ending? Nice job on the story!

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  2. Nice story. I like how you changed the ending to the cat being rewarded. Opposed to getting in trouble. The picture also does a great job of setting an image in mind. I also like how the cat didn't go for something small. Instead he took a big risk that he knew would be worth it. You did a good job of changing the story, it was a good read.
    -Ashlie

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  3. Another great story Mac! You need to check out the blog of the girl in our comment group this week because she has a cat named chubby princess haha and she is definitely not a lean cat. I like how you changed the ending of the story to something where the cat and his master win. Your story made me think how it is funny that cats eat chicken meat when a chicken is probably about the same size as a cat. My mind can wander like that I guess. You did a good job making the reader read on the edge of his seat too.

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  4. Hi Mac!
    I really liked how you turned the story around to where it had a happy ending rather than a sad! I agree with you that happy endings are always better. I also like how there was some suspense in the story as the cat was trying to escape. Something that I think might have been helpful when reading this story would have been some more background! Why were the cats stealing food off of the king's table? How did this all get started?
    Also, thanks Steven for the shout out above! I do have a cat named Chubby Princess... maybe her and the now-fat cat would have been friends!
    Great storytelling overall!

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  5. Nice story. I like how you changed the ending of the story, it was so great. The best part was when I read how the lean cat became the fat cat. I strongly agree with you that happy ending are always great and who does not like the happy endings. The story made me want to keep reading more the whole time! Great job!

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  6. Please read my comments that came to mind while I was reading your story. You should be able to piece together which part of the story I was on when I made the comment!

    (Comments as I read along)
    Wow! That’s crazy that Suan was able to bring his wife back from the dead with these stones. That’s unfortunate that they were struggling but I’m glad that they are finally given the opportunity to put the stones to go use with the head of the village. Let’s see how that ends up working out for them.

    Perfect! The stones were able to fix the ring, and bring income to the family! That turned out pretty well for him. Got his wife back, and his now able to make a living for them, as well as have the respect of the people.

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