Atondido Stories
Before the soldiers knew what was happening, Kuratko
pecked at them and swallowed them down, bayonets and all,
one after another, like so many grains of wheat!
Then that terrible chick went on strutting down the road,
crowing merrily.
Soon he met Kotsor, the cat. Kotsor, the cat, blinked his eyes
and worked his whiskers in surprise.
"Good gracious, Kuratko, what a great big crop you've got!"
"Cockadoodledo!" Kuratko said. "I should think my crop was
big, for haven't I just eaten a company of soldiers, bayonets and
all; a washerwoman, tub and all; Grandmother, spinning-wheel
and all; and Grandfather, stool and all? But I'm still hungry, so
now I'm going to eat you!"
Before Kotsor, the cat, knew what was happening, Kuratko
made one peck at him and swallowed him down.
But Kotsor, the cat, was not a person to submit tamely to
such an indignity. The moment he found himself inside Kuratko
he unsheathed his claws and began to scratch and to tear. He
worked until he had torn a great hole in Kuratko's crop. At that
Kuratko, the Terrible Chick, when he tried again to crow, top-
pled over dead!
Then Kotsor, the cat, jumped out of Kuratko's crop; after him
the company of soldiers marched out; and after them the wash-
erwoman with her tub, Grandmother with her spinning-wheel,
and Grandfather with his stool. And they all went about their
business.
Kotsor, the cat, followed Grandmother and Grandfather
home and begged them to give him Kuratko for his dinner.
"You may have him for all of me," Grandfather said. "But ask
Grandmother. He was her little pet, not mine."
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