This time she was ready expecting him, and had
caused her attendant cats to strew the road with
flowers, and aromatic herbs and woods and gums
were burnt in braziers on each side of the way.
The White Cat awaited him seated on a balcony.
‘Well, king’s son,’ said she, on his arrival, ‘you
have again returned without your crown.’
‘Madam,’ answered he, ‘thanks to your kind
assistance I have twice earned it. But the fact is
my father is so unwilling to part with it that I
really do not care to have it.’
‘Never mind,’ she said, ‘you can but do your best
to deserve it. You shall take back with you a
lovely princess whom I will find for you. In the
meantime let us amuse ourselves. I have ordered
to-night a battle between my cats and the water-
rats, on purpose to give you entertainment. My
cats, it is true, are somewhat at a disadvantage,
for they dislike water, and the rats will naturally
seek to carry on the conflict on their native
element.’
So they walked together on a terrace and saw the
battle. The cats were in ships made of cork. The
rats were in half ostrich shells. The fight was
obstinate and protracted. The rats threw them-
selves into the water and then the cats could not
follow them. The rats were finally routed, but by
no means exterminated. Many live on to the
present day.
The Prince passed the year as he had passed the
others, in hunting, fishing, and playing at chess
with the White Cat. He could not forbear asking
her how it was that she was able to talk; but she
answered that it was not in her power at that
time to explain to him many things that sur-
prised him. Nothing passes so quickly as happy
days, and if the White Cat had not been careful
to remember the time when the Prince was bound
to return to his father, he would have forgotten it.
219

THE
WHITE
CAT