Knjigice
Fairy tale · Animal stories
The Owl and the Pussy-cat
A song of a pea-green boat and a dance in the moonlight
Also in: Sova in mucka (Slovenian) · Sova a mačička (Slovak)
The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea in a beautiful pea-green boat: they took some honey, and plenty of money, wrapped up in a five-pound note. A thousand stars twinkled above them, and the sea murmured hello below. "Oh, what a night!" sighed the Owl. "Just right for a long, long voyage."
1
The Owl looked up to the stars above, and sang to a small guitar: "O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love, what a beautiful Pussy you are, you are, you are! What a beautiful Pussy you are!" The sea fell quite quiet to listen, the stars leaned lower, and the Pussy-cat closed her eyes to keep the song for ever.
2
Pussy said to the Owl: "You elegant fowl! How charmingly sweet you sing! O let us be married! Too long we have tarried: but what shall we do for a ring?" The Owl nodded her round head thoughtfully: "Then let us sail to where the sea ends. Somewhere out there our ring is surely shining."
3
So they sailed away, for a year and a day — past moonlit paths, past quiet islands where nobody lives. When the wind blew, the Owl held the tiller tight; when the sea lay smooth as a mirror, the Pussy-cat fished for stars in the water with one soft paw. And every single evening the Owl sang softly: "O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love …"
4
One morning, out of the silver mist, rose the land where the Bong-tree grows. Its leaves shone like moonlight, its branches smelled of honey and far-away songs. "Land!" cheered the Pussy-cat, and the Owl circled the boat three times for joy. They tied the little boat to the roots and stepped onto the soft, cool sand.
5
And there, in a wood, a Piggy-wig stood — round, rosy and cheerful — with a ring at the end of his nose, his nose, with a ring at the end of his nose. "Good evening, dear Pig," said the Owl politely. "Are you willing to sell your ring? It is just what we need for our wedding." The Piggy blinked slowly, and the Pussy-cat held her breath.
6
The Piggy thought for exactly three swishes of his tail. "For one shilling, I will," he said solemnly. The Owl fetched a silver shilling from the boat, and the Piggy slipped the ring off his nose and laid it gently in the Pussy-cat's paw. "Thank you, kind Pig!" they called. "Tomorrow, such a wedding as never was!"
7
On the hill above the shore lived a Turkey, solemn as a Sunday morning. It was he who married them the next evening, under the Bong-tree, by the light of a thousand stars. "Owl, do you take this Pussy-cat?" "I do!" "Pussy-cat, do you take this Owl?" "I do!" The Turkey spread his great tail like a fan, and the whole land rustled with quiet joy.
8
Then came a feast such as no sea had ever seen: they dined on mince, and slices of quince, which they ate with a runcible spoon — for on such a splendid day only the most splendid spoon will do. "Mmm," purred the Pussy-cat, "never was a quince so sweet." And the honey flowed, and the stars lit every one of their little lamps.
9
And then — hand in hand, or wing in paw — on the edge of the sand, they danced by the light of the moon, the moon, the moon, they danced by the light of the moon. And once more, very softly, the Owl sang: "O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love — with you I shall dance in the moonlight for ever."
10The End
