Why Dog and Cat Are Enemies

A long time ago a man and his wife owned a golden ring. It was a lucky ring: as long as it stayed with them, they would always have enough to live on. But nobody had told them this, so one day they sold it for a handful of coins.

From the moment the ring left the house, their luck ran out. Each week they were poorer than the week before, until they had no idea where their next meal would come from. They kept a dog and a cat, and the two animals grew just as hungry as their master and mistress.

The dog and the cat put their heads together to work out how they could bring good fortune back to the house. In the end the dog had a plan.

“Our people need that ring,” he told the cat.

“But it’s shut away in a chest,” said the cat, “and the chest is locked tight. Nobody can reach it.”

“Then catch a mouse,” said the dog. “The mouse can chew a hole in the chest and bring out the ring. If she refuses, tell her you’ll bite her, and you’ll see how quickly she agrees.”

The cat liked this plan very much, so she went off and caught a mouse. Then she set out for the house where the chest was kept, and the dog went along behind her.

On the way they reached a wide river. The cat could not swim, so the dog let her climb onto his back and paddled across with her. On the far side, the cat carried the mouse into the house. The mouse nibbled and gnawed until she had made a hole in the chest, and then she brought out the golden ring.

The cat took the ring in her mouth and hurried down to the river, where the dog sat waiting. Once more he carried her over the water on his back. Then the two friends set off for home with the lucky ring.

But the dog could only run along the ground. Whenever a house stood in his path, he had to go all the way around it. The cat simply sprang up and scampered over the rooftops, so she got home long before the dog and laid the ring in her master’s hand.

“What a fine animal our cat is!” the man said to his wife. “From now on she shall always have plenty to eat, and we’ll look after her as if she were our own child.”

When the dog finally trotted in, tired and panting, they shouted at him and gave him a beating, because they thought he had done nothing to help bring back the ring. And the cat sat by the fire, purring, and did not say one word to set things right.

The dog was furious with the cat for stealing the reward that should have been his too. The next time he saw her, he chased after her and tried to catch her.

And that is why, to this very day, dogs and cats are enemies.

About this story

“Why Dog and Cat Are Enemies” is chapter XIV of Richard Wilhelm’s The Chinese Fairy Book, translated by Frederick H. Martens (New York: Frederick A. Stokes, 1921), among the nursery tales and animal stories. Wilhelm describes his version as popular at the time of his collection.

It is a “why” story: it invents an adventure to account for dogs chasing cats. This is a fictional explanation, not a rule about real pets; dogs and cats are not always enemies.

Read the original: The Chinese Fairy Book (Project Gutenberg)

Best for ages 9–12 with an adult — includes a threatened mouse and a dog beaten unfairly by its owners.

Reading the story closely

The cat’s earlier arrival hides a whole chain of work. The dog devises the plan and supplies transport, the mouse opens the chest, and the cat carries the ring. The owners see only the last step. Their mistake shows how judging by a final result can erase the people—or animals—who made it possible.

Give each helper a card listing their contribution. Then add what each risks: the mouse is threatened, the dog is beaten, and the cat is rewarded. How could the owners learn what happened before deciding whom to praise? The ring restores the household’s wealth, but the ending leaves its fairness badly damaged.

Talk about it

• How did the dog and the cat each help to get the ring back?
• Was it fair that only the cat was praised? What could the cat have said?
• Can you think of another “why” story that explains something about animals?

Related stories

• Cat and Mouse in Partnership — a Grimm tale about a cat who cheats her partner
• The Panther — a nursery tale with a sly animal villain
• The Little Hunting Dog — a Wilhelm tale with a remarkable dog