Week 2 Storytelling: The Farmers Pets

A barn, courtesy of Hobby Farms

A dog and a cat, owned by a farmer, both lived in a barn. The dog herded sheep for the farmer, and the cat caught rats. However, they did not get along. Despite the farmer treating them both equally and them both doing separate things, they saw each other as competition.

One morning after the farmer had come to give instructions to the cat and dog, the cat came to the dog and said "I can do your work as well as mine. Once the farmer sees this, he'll kick you out and I'll be rid of you forever". The dog, sensing an opportunity, agreed to the cats challenge. The cat went out of the barn to heard the sheep into a pasture. The sheep were not intimidated by the cat, instead they looked to him and asked "where is the dog that usually comes to move us along". The cat replied in a snarky tone "I am the one who will herd you now, so move into the next pasture". The sheep replied "why should we move for you, when the dog always treated us with respect and asked us nicely to move". After this, the sheep refused to move from their pasture. The cat ran around and hissed at the sheep until nightfall, but they did not budge. When the cat could barely stand up, he returned to the barn.

Meanwhile, the dog went to the rats in the barn and said "If we work together today, we could be rid of the cat forever. If you simply hide in the barn so that the cat thinks I have gotten rid of you. Tomorrow morning when the farmer comes to check, reveal yourself. He will kick the cat out". The rats, seeing the wisdom in his plan, agreed.

When the cat finally returned to the barn and saw that the rats were gone, he was pleased. With the sheep in the wrong pasture and the rats gone, the farmer would assume the dog got lazy and did not do his work. He then fell asleep since he was so tired. After the cat had passed out, the dog ran out to the field and spoke to the sheep. He said "Move to the other pasture now, so when the farmer comes to check he will see that I have done my work. He will also see that the cat has not done his, and kick him out". The sheep moved, since they also wanted to see the cat gone after their unpleasant interaction.


The next morning, when the farmer returned to the barn, he saw rats everywhere and the cat still sleeping in the corner. Livid, he woke the cat and kicked him out, saying "I won't feed an animal that is too lazy to pull it's weight". The cat defended himself, saying that the dog and him had switched work yesterday, and the dog had also not done his work. The farmer replied "I don't believe you. The sheep are in their new pasture. Not only are you lazy, but you are a liar". The cat had no choice but to leave the farm forever.

Author's Note: I was inspired by Aesop's Fables this week. In Aesop's Fables, none of the stories end "happily ever after", usually someone is tricked and ends up in a worse position than they were before because of it. 

Aesop's Fables by Joseph Jacobs.