Atondido Stories
the room, wherein the beautiful princess was sitting, and en-
tered. The princess recognised the cat, and informed it of all that
had happened to her since she had left them.
"But is there no way of escape from the hands of these peo-
ple?" she asked.
"Yes," replied the cat, "if you can tell me where the charmed
ring is."
"The ring is in the stomach of the ogress," she said.
"All right," said the cat, "I will recover it. If we once get it,
everything is ours." Then the cat descended the wall of the
house, and went and laid down by a rat's hole and pretended
she was dead. Now at that time a great wedding chanced to be
going on among the rat community of that place, and all the rats
of the neighbourhood were assembled in that one particular
mine by which the cat had lain down. The eldest son of the king
of the rats was about to be married. The cat got to know of this,
and at once conceived the idea of seizing the bridegroom and
making him render the necessary help. Consequently, when the
procession poured forth from the hole squealing and jumping in
honour of the occasion, it immediately spotted the bridegroom
and pounced down on him. "Oh! let me go, let me go," cried the
terrified rat. "Oh! let him go," squealed all the company. "It is his
wedding day."
"No, no," replied the cat. "Not unless you do some thing for
me. Listen. The ogress, who lives in that house with the prince
and his wife, has swallowed a ring, which I very much want. If
you will procure it for me, I will allow the rat to depart un-
harmed. If you do not, then your prince dies under my feet."
"Very well, we agree," said they all. "Nay, if we do not get the
ring for you, devour us all."
472