Storytelling for Week 3: The Cat and the Canary

Once upon a time, in a small neighborhood, there lived a cat. Now this cat was well fed, mind you, but despite his regular helpings of both canned and dry food, his appetite was never quite satiated.

 You see, in this neighborhood there also lived a canary, and despite his many attempts, the Cat always fell short of reaching the Canary's nest far up in the trees. If you would have asked the Cat at the time, he would have told you himself: he would give anything to snatch that little bird up and eat him whole.

This cat was no fool, and he soon realized that if he could not get to the Canary, then his only option was to get the Canary to come to him.

It was a bright Sunday morning when the Cat appeared before the Canary's tree. The Cat rapped twice on the bark of the tree and waited for the Canary to appear. The Canary wobbled from his nest onto a nearby branch and yawned "Who is it?"

"Hello there!" yelled the cat enthusiastically. "I was wonderin' if ya' had a moment to talk about your life insurance policy. If ya'd like to come down and look at this pamphlet, I've got some great offers for ya'"

(Canary. Wikimedia Commons)

The Canary squinted at the creature below him through his tired eyes; this creature wore the attire of a human businessman, and stood on two legs as if it were such. The Canary however, was no fool either.

"Vewy smawt, awen't ya' puddy tat?" said the Canary, and with that statement returned to his nest.

"Thsufferin Thuccotash!" exclaimed the Cat. He had been confident that his plan would work. "Something musta went wrong." he thought to himself. "The disguise! That's it. It woulda worked if he hadn't seen my ears!"

The Cat once again set about creating a disguise. This time however, he would cover his head in a hat. That, he was certain, would be enough to fool the Canary into coming down to greet him.

The next day, the Canary once again woke to the sound of knocking on his tree. "Who is it?" the Canary asked once again.

"Why hello there! I'm here with the Girl Scouts of America and was wanting to see if ya' was interested in purchasing some cookies today." said the Cat.

"Suwe thing, I wouwd wove some cookies. Meet me awound the othew side of the twee." replied the Canary with a smile.

The Cat quickly ran around to the other side of the tree, and what he found was not the Canary waiting for him, but instead the Bulldog, who quickly snatched him up.


Author's Note: This story is an amalgamation of The Cat and the Birds and The Dog, the Cock, and the Fox from the Aesop for Children, illustrated by Milo Winter (1919). Web source. In The Cat and the Birds, a hungry cat attempts to trick a bird into coming out of his home by dressing as a doctor. In The Dog, the Cock, and the Fox, when the Fox attempts to trick the Cock into coming down from his perch, the Cock instead sends him to him to his friend the Dog.