A cat ran away. Behind the cat was a dog which sat ever so slightly on a porch with rats behind that. “ Cat “, it uttered with a woofish bark, “ Do not suppose I wish to eat you !” Ever so slowly, the cat began to relax.” Feuds are for the sun and the moon, and the ants and the human- food !”, the dog continued to woof. Gripping its claws into the mud of the ground the cat turned around and decided to orate . “ How do I know to trust you ? I know only that others of your kind have chased me and my kind to bone -weariness with your snarling barking ! “ Joyfully in the background the rats laughed at the foolishness before their eyes. Kings and queens and kangaroos have fallen for less intelligent ploys , they supposed.Lifting its voice above the din a rat crawled into its moment in the sun. “ Madame cat, all history attests to your value ! No dog would dare to impugn that ! “ “ Oh, but history also knows of dogs grudge against my kind !”, the cat defended. “ Perhaps”, was all the rat offered afore deciding the sun too bright and going back to its habitat. Quandaries multiplied in the cats mind as she contemplated the advice and prepared to leap away. Run, her instinct spoke, while you still can. Silence was around the porch and the ground and the pipes full of rats. The dog yawned, the cat poised and the rats held their breath with the most excruciating anticipation. Up in the sky the sun watched with a smile on its face. “ Violence, “ the dog ventured, “ is not an answer to any problem. We should instead take tea and scones and discuss what problems there be logically. Xenophobia gets us nowhere ! “
“ You are right, “ the cat agreed, “ and my Wednesday afternoons are free , so I suppose we may take tea then.” Zoologists from Helsinki to Cairo were shocked from then on by the sight of rats and cats gathering in a weekly throng at the porch of a dog !