“No. No,” said the cat. “I like not your water and I seek a place where there is shelter, so that I may be dry and warm.” Indeed, the cat looked very miserable indeed.
“Well, how would you like to have a house of stone?” asked the wise man.
“That I should like very much indeed,” answered the cat. “But it must be a house large enough for me, and with no room for any other creature, for I am not fond of company. But a house in which I could sit and dream, and where no noises might disturb, would be very pleasant. Make me such a one and I shall teach you something. Or how about a wish? Would you like to have claws like an owl? Or would you like to drink blood like a vampire bat? Or would you like to spit poison? Or would you like to bristle like a porcupine?”
“Thank you, no,” said the wise man. “I want nothing. But by to-morrow there shall be a house ready for you.”
“Where is it to be built?” asked the cat. “First, it must be in a quiet place where men do not go.”
“It shall be that,” answered the wise man. “But just now I do not know where the place may be. I must seek a proper place.”
“Then how shall I find it?” asked the cat.
“Attend,” said the wise man. “I shall put a thread about the world, a thread that no man may break with his hands, and when you see that thread, follow it and so come to the stone house.”
“Agreed,” said the cat. “But let the house be just big enough for me. Let it be in a quiet place. Also, let it be of such fashion that I can slip out backward or leap out forward should an enemy come.”
So that being said and no more to come, man and cat parted.