“Good-day, fox, you sly-boots,” said the cat.
“Good-day, cat! Have you had anything to eat yet to-day?” said the fox.
“O, only a little. My fast has hardly been broken,” said the cat. “I have had no more than a dish of mush and a little potful of fat and the man in the house and the woman in the stable and the bell-cow at the manger and the leaf-sweeper in the orchard and the weasel on the stone-pile and the squirrel in the hazel-bush, and I’m thinking over whether I ought not to eat you as well,” said she, and seized the fox and ate him up too.
When she had gone a little further, she met a hare.
“Good-day, you hopping hare,” said the cat.
“Good-day, cat! Have you had anything to eat yet to-day?” said the hare.
“O, only a little. My fast has hardly been broken,” said the cat. “I have had no more than a dish of mush and a little potful of fat and the man in the house and the woman in the stable and the bell-cow at the manger and the leaf-sweeper in the orchard and the weasel on the stone-pile and the squirrel in the hazel-bush and the fox, the sly-boots, and I’m thinking over whether I ought not to eat you up as well,” said she, and seized the hare and ate him up.
When she had gone a little further, she met a wolf.
“Good-day, you wild wolf,” said the cat.
“Good-day, cat! Have you had anything to eat yet to-day?” said the wolf.