Atondido Stories
Domingo’s Cat
Once upon a time there was a man who was very poor. He was
so poor that he had to sell one thing after another to get food to
keep from starving. After a while there was nothing left except
the cat. He was very fond of his cat, and he said, “O, Cat, let
come what will, I’ll never part with you. I would rather starve.”
The cat replied, “O good master Domingo, rest in peace. You
will never starve as long as you have me. I am going out into the
world to make a fortune for us both.”
The cat went out into the jungle and dug and dug. Every
time he dug he turned up silver pieces. The cat took a number of
these home to his master so that he could purchase food. The
rest of the pieces of silver the cat carried to the king.
The next day the cat dug up pieces of gold and carried them
to the king. The next day he carried pieces of diamonds.
“Where do you get these rich gifts? Who is sending me such
wonderful presents?” asked the king.
The cat replied, “It is my master, Domingo.”
Now the king had a beautiful daughter. He thought that this
man Domingo must be the richest man in the whole kingdom.
He decided that his daughter should marry him at once. He
made arrangements for the wedding through the cat.
“I haven’t any clothes to wear at the wedding,”said Domingo
when the cat told him that he was to marry the daughter of the
king.
“Never mind about that. Just leave it to me,” replied the cat.
The cat went to the king and said, “O King, there has been a
terrible fire in the tailor shop where they were making the wed-
ding garments of my master, Domingo. The tailor and all of his
assistants were burned to death, and the entire outfit of my mas-
ter Domingo was destroyed. Hasn’t your majesty something
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