Why the Cat kills Rats

Ansa was King of Calabar for fifty years. He had a very faithful cat as a housekeeper, and a rat was his house-boy. The king was an obstinate, headstrong man, but was very fond of the cat, who had been in his store for many years.

アンサは五十年のあいだカラバルの王だった。王にはとても忠実な猫がいて家の切り盛りをまかされており、鼠は王の小間使いだった。王は頑固でわがままな男だったが、何年も王の蔵に仕えてきた猫をたいそうかわいがっていた。

The rat, who was very poor, fell in love with one of the king's servant girls, but was unable to give her any presents, as he had no money.

鼠はたいそう貧しかったが、王の召使いの娘の一人に恋をした。けれども金がなかったので、娘に贈り物をすることができなかった。

At last he thought of the king's store, so in the night-time, being quite small, he had little difficulty, having made a hole in the roof, in getting into the store. He then stole corn and native pears, and presented them to his sweetheart.

とうとう鼠は王の蔵のことを思いついた。そこで夜のうちに、体がとても小さかったので、屋根に穴をあけて難なく蔵に忍び込んだ。そしてとうもろこしと土地の梨を盗み、恋人に贈った。

At the end of the month, when the cat had to render her account of the things in the store to the king, it was found that a lot of corn and native pears were missing. The king was very angry at this, and asked the cat for an explanation. But the cat could not account for the loss, until one of her friends told her that the rat had been stealing the corn and giving it to the girl.

月末になって、猫が蔵の品々の勘定を王に報告しなければならなくなると、とうもろこしと土地の梨がたくさんなくなっていることがわかった。王はひどく怒り、猫に説明を求めた。けれども猫には、なくなったわけを説明できなかった。そのうち猫の友だちの一匹が、鼠がとうもろこしを盗んで娘にやっていたと教えてくれた。

When the cat told the king, he called the girl before him and had her flogged. The rat he handed over to the cat to deal with, and dismissed them both from his service. The cat was so angry at this that she killed and ate the rat, and ever since that time whenever a cat sees a rat she kills and eats it.

猫がそれを王に告げると、王は娘を呼び出して鞭で打たせた。鼠は猫に引き渡して始末をまかせ、猫と鼠の二匹とも暇を出した。猫はこれにたいそう腹を立て、鼠を殺して食べてしまった。それからというもの、猫は鼠を見かけるたびに殺して食べるのである。