Then he got up and clambered out of the cave, into the forest, thinking:
“Here I am quite alone and deserted, how shall I obtain a horse now?”
Whilst he was thus walking full of thought, he met a small Tabby-Cat which said quite kindly, “Hans, where are you going?”
“Alas, you cannot help me.”
“I well know your desire,” said the Cat. “You wish to have a beautiful horse. Come with me, and be my faithful servant for seven years, and then I will give you a horse more beautiful than any you have ever seen in your whole life.”
“Well, this is a wonderful Cat!” thought Hans, “but I am determined to see if she is telling the truth.”
So she took him with her into her enchanted castle, where there were nothing but cats who were her servants. They leapt nimbly upstairs and downstairs, and were merry and happy.
In the evening when they sat down to dinner, three of them had to make music. One played the bassoon, the other the fiddle, and the third put the trumpet to his lips, and blew out his cheeks as much as he possibly could.
When they had dined, the table was carried away, and the Cat said, “Now, Hans, come and dance with me.”
“No,” said he, “I won’t dance with a pussy cat. I have never done that yet.”