Fighting like cat and dog

Why our favourite pets are enemies

The DM Cats and Dogs sit side by side without a ruckus, but in the real world it’s not quite the same. The two popular pets often fight or at least reach a state of resentful co-existence. But according to a Chinese legend it wasn’t always so.... 

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A cat and dog were great friends in a house with a lowly couple. They were poor, but luckily had a magic ring which ensured they always had food to eat. Only their clever pets knew of the ring’s importance however, and one day, the man sold it for a fine cloak.

Well, from them on hunger descended on the household. There was barely enough food for the couple to eat, and the cat and dog had to fend for themselves as best they could. One day, the dog interrupted the cat settling down to devour a tasty mouse.

‘Stop!’ he said. ‘I’ve a better use for that mouse than filling your belly.’

The cat replied, ‘I can think of nothing better than a full belly!’

But happily he waited while the dog explained his cunning plan. The cat, dog and mouse set off along the lanes to the house where the magic ring was now kept. But the cat was stumped when they came to a river.

‘I can’t swim,’ he said. ‘I will eat this mouse after all!’

But quick as a flash, the dog scooped them up on his back and swum the across safe and sound. The cat did not even get his paws wet! When they arrived at the house, the dog instructed the mouse to go in through a tiny hole and retrieve the ring – or he would let the cat eat him. The terrified mouse did as he was told.

After a time, the little mouse returned with the ring and was released. The dog swam the cat back across the river, and dried off on him journey home along the lanes while the cat sprinted across the rooftops with the ring.

As you can imagine, the couple were overjoyed to have the ring back and richly rewarded the cat. The bedraggled dog was tied up in the yard whilst the other feasted. From them on, the cat was treated as a hero and the dog as a useless beast who occasionally received their scraps.  As you can imagine, the dog began to hate the cat for taking the glory of his plan and now chasing the feline whenever he gets the chance.

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