The cat's elopement.
Once upon a time there lived a cat of marvelous beauty.
With a skin as soft and shiny as silk,
And wise green eyes that could see even in the dark.
His name was gone.
And he belonged to a music teacher who was so fond and proud of him that he would not have parted with him for anything in the world.
Now,
Not far from the Music Master's house,
There dwelt a lady who possessed a most lovely little pussycat named Coma.
She was such a little deer altogether.
And blinked her eyes so daintily.
And ate her supper so tidily.
And when she had finished,
She licked her pink nose so delicately with her little tongue.
That her mistress was never tired of saying.
Coma.
Coma.
What should I do without you?
Well,
It happened one day that these two went out for an evening stroll,
Met under a cherry tree,
And in one moment fell madly in love with each other.
Gon had long felt that it was time for him to find a wife.
For all the ladies in the neighborhood paid him so much attention that it made him quite shy.
But he was not easy to please,
And did not care about any of them.
Now,
Before he had time to think,
Cupid had entangled him in his net,
And he was filled with love towards Koma.
She fully returned his passion.
But,
Like a woman,
She saw the difficulties in the way,
And consulted sadly with Gon as to the means of overcoming them.
Gon entreated his master to set matters right by buying Koma.
But her mistress would not part from her.
Then the music master was asked to sell Gond to the lady,
But he declined to listen to any such suggestion,
So everything remained as before.
At length the love of the couple grew to such a pitch that they determined to please themselves and to seek their fortunes together.
So one moonlight night.
They stole away.
And venture it out into the unknown world.
All day long they marched bravely on through the sunshine,
Till they had left their homes far behind.
And towards evening they found themselves in a large park.
The wanderers by this time were very hot and tired,
And the grass looked very soft and inviting,
And the trees cast cool deep shadows.
When suddenly an ogre appeared in this paradise in the shape of a big,
Big dog.
He came springing toward them,
Showing them all his teeth.
In coma shriek.
And rushed up a cherry tree.
Gon,
However,
Stood his ground boldly and prepared to give battle,
For he felt that Koma's eyes were upon him and that he must not run away.
But alas,
His courage would have not unveiled him nothing,
Had his enemy once touched him.
For he was a large and powerful and a very fierce dog.
From her perch in the tree,
Kona saw it all,
And yelled with all her might,
Hoping that someone would hear and come to help.
Luckily,
A servant of the princess to whom the park belonged was walking by.
And he drove off the dog.
And picking up the trembling gone in his arms.
Carried him to his mistress.
So poor little Coma was left alone,
While Gon was borne away full of trouble,
Not in the least knowing what to do.
Even the attention paid him by the princess,
Who was delighted with his beauty and pretty ways,
Did not console him.
But there was no use in fighting against fate,
And he would only wait and see what would turn up.
The princess,
Gon's new mistress,
Was so good and kind that everybody loved her.
And she would have led a happy life,
Had it not been for a serpent who had fallen in love with her.
And was constantly annoying her by his presence.
Her servants had ordered to drive him away as often as he appeared,
But as they were careless and the serpent very sly,
It sometimes happened that he was able to slip past them.
And to frighten the princess by appearing before her.
One day she was seated in her room playing on her favorite musical instrument when she felt something gliding up her sash and saw her enemy making his way to kiss her cheek.
She shrieked and threw himself backwards.
And Gon,
Who'd been curled up on a stool at her feet,
Understood her terror,
And with one bound seized the snake by his neck.
He gave him one bite and one shake and flung him on the ground where he lay,
Never to worry the princess anymore.
Then she took Gon in her arms,
And praised and caressed him,
And saw that he had the nicest bits to eat,
And the softest mats to lie on,
And he would have had nothing in the world to wish for,
If only he could have seen Koma again.
Time passed on,
And one morning Gon lay before the house door,
Basking in the sun.
He looked lazily at the world stretched out before him.
And saw in the distance a big ruffian of a cat teasing and ill-treating quite a little one.
He jumped up full of rage and chased away the big cat.
And then he turned to comfort the little one,
When his heart nearly burst with joy to find that it was coma.
At first,
Koma did not know him again.
He had grown so large and stately.
But when it dawned upon her who it was.
Her happiness knew no bounds.
And they rub their heads and their noses again and again,
While their purring might have been heard a mile off.
Paw in paw they appeared before the princess and told her the story of their life and its sorrows.
The princess wept for sympathy and promised that they should never more be parted,
But should live with her to the end of their days.
By and by,
The princess got herself married.
And brought a prince to dwell in the palace in the park.
And she told him all about her two cats,
And how brave Gon had been,
And how he had delivered her from her enemy the serpent.
When the prince heard,
He swore they should never leave them,
But should go with the princess wherever she went.
So it all fell out as the princess wished,
And Gon and Koma had many children.
And so had the princess,
And they all played together and were friends to the end of their lives.
And that is the end of our story this evening.
Until next time,
Sweet dreams.
