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Reading Notes: Lang Unit 1, Part A: A Handy Cat

Hi there! For this weeks reading I chose to do the first Lang Unit because the stories come from all across Europe. I was immediately drawn to the first story in the unit, "The Master Cat, or Puss in Boots," because I have seen Puss in Boots as a character in other works but had never heard his story. The picture to the left, is an illustration for the Mother Goose Story Book version of the story. This is the moment that the cat calls for the kings carriage to stop and save the "Marquis of Carabas" from drowning. I would like to use this picture and others of a similar style if I use this story for my writing this week. Speaking of which, here are my reading notes for this story:


  • A miller left his property to his sons 
  • The mill to the older son, a donkey to the middle son, and a cat to the youngest 
  • The youngest says he will likely starve since all he can do is make a muff out of the skin of the cat
  • To save his own skin, the cat comes up with a plan and tells the youngest son not to worry
  • The cat asks for a bag and some boots so the son complies
  • The cat heads out and catches a rabbit with the bag by tricking it 
  • He delivers this rabbit to the king and says that it is from the "Marquis of Carabas," a made up tittle for the young son
  • The king is pleased and the cat continues to bring him game of different kinds occasionally 
  • One day when the cat knows the king and his daughter are going out he tells the son to go bathe in the river at a certain spot 
  • The cat steals the son's clothes and then shouts to the king that the "Marquis of Carabas" is drowning 
  • The king sends his men to help him and gets him some fancy clothes to wear and lets him ride with him and his daughter
  • The cat runs ahead to tell the people working in various fields to tell the king that the Marquis of Carabas owns those fields 
  • The cat also runs ahead to trick an Ogre that owns a nearby castle into transforming into a mouse which the cat then eats and tells the king that the Marquis of Carabas owns the castle
  • The king was so impressed by the Marquis of Carabas's charm and wealth that he offers his daughter in marriage to him
  • They get married 




Bibliography
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang, illustrated by H. J. Ford 

D J Munro, after Gustave Doré [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
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