Atondido Stories
The Story of a Cat, a Mouse, a Lizard and an Owl
This is the story of four creatures, none of whom loved each oth-
er, who lived in the same banyan tree in a forest in India. Banyan
trees are very beautiful and very useful, and get their name from
the fact that "banians," as merchants are called in India, often
gather together in their shade to sell their goods. Banyan trees
grow to a very great height, spreading their branches out so
widely that many people can stand beneath them. From those
branches roots spring forth, which, when they reach the ground,
pierce it, and look like, columns holding up a roof. If you have
never seen a banyan tree, you can easily find a picture of one in
some dictionary; and when you have done so, you will under-
stand that a great many creatures can live in one without seeing
much of each other.
In an especially fine banyan tree, outside the walls of a town
called Vidisa, a cat, an owl, a lizard and a mouse, had all taken
up their abode. The cat lived in a big hole in the trunk some little
distance from the ground, where she could sleep very cosily,
curled up out of sight with her head resting on her forepaws,
feeling perfectly safe from harm; for no other creature, she
thought, could possibly discover her hiding-place. The owl
roosted in a mass of foliage at the top of the tree, near the nest in
which his wife had brought up their children, before those chil-
dren flew away to seek mates for themselves. He too felt pretty
secure as long as he remained up there; but he had seen the cat
prowling about below him more than once, and was very sure
that, if she should happen to catch sight of him when he was off
his guard seeking his prey and obliged to give all his attention to
what he was doing, she might spring out upon him and kill him.
Cats do not generally attack such big birds as owls, but they will
sometimes kill a mother sitting in her nest, as well as the little
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