Why Dogs Chase Cats and Cats Chase Mice: A Yiddish Folktale
5151

The dogs go to the king. The dogs ask him for help. The dogs want people to stop bothering them.

 

The king says he will help. The king writes a decree. The king writes it on paper. The king signs the decree. The king gives it to the dogs. It says that people can’t bother dogs. The dogs are happy.

 

The dogs must keep the decree safe. The dogs must hide the decree. The dogs do not have a good hiding place. But they know who does. The cats.

 

The cats can get into small places. The cats can get into holes in the walls. The cats will know where to hide it. The cats agree. The cats hide the decree for the dogs.

 

A year passes. Dogcatchers come. They start to catch dogs.

 

The dogs run to the cats. The dogs say: “We need the king’s decree. Where is it?”

 

The cats say: “We will go look for it.”

 

The cats run. The cats look. The cats find the decree. But mice chewed it up. It is in tiny pieces.

 

The dogs find out. The dogs are very angry. They start to chase the cats. The cats are very angry. They begin to chase the mice. And that is how it has been ever since.