In the attic of a small apartment building lived a cat with her little ginger kitten. They had no owners, so the mother cat had to find food for herself and her small kitten on her own. It was difficult for the mother cat, because in a big city it's not easy to find food independently. It was good that sometimes kind people would bring bowls of various food. Or she could catch a bird. And sometimes they had to go to sleep hungry.
Lulling her kitten to sleep, the mother cat would wash his fur with her tongue, and the little furry bundle would purr.
Mum, tell me a story!
The kitten would ask.
About a brave prince and wizard cats!
And the cat began her story in a gentle, unhurried voice.
Once upon a time, in a grand castle lived a young prince who was very curious from birth. He was interested in everything, loved to ride horses and play with the court dogs. But there was one thing that upset him greatly—his father the King and mother the Queen would not allow him to leave the castle grounds. And he was curious about what was out there.
The little prince would climb to the highest tower and look into the distance, where he could see a forest, and beyond the forest was a small river. Many birds and animals. And the young brave hero so wanted to visit those places and see everything up close, to hunt rabbits, to touch the cold water in the river.
And so one day, a castle worker was leaving through the gate and forgot to close it behind him. The prince couldn't resist and went through the gate. Only it was already getting dark outside, but the brave boy was not stopped by this. He headed towards the forest, waving his wooden sword, running and happy to be free, breathing in the scent of fragrant meadow grasses. The prince was enjoying what seemed to him like freedom.
But before the boy had even entered the forest, a large black raven attacked him. It flapped its wings, cawed loudly, trying to peck the frightened prince with its mighty beak. This was no ordinary raven, but an evil sorcerer who had long been waiting for the young prince to leave the castle grounds.
The boy ran deeper into the forest to hide among the trees from the enraged bird, but the raven would not give up. The prince ran out into a small clearing deep in the forest. In the centre of the clearing sat two large cats on a big stump, and it seemed to the boy that their eyes glowed with green light. Surprisingly, he wasn't even frightened by them, but rather delighted when he saw them.
The cats looked intently at the black raven, and it seemed to freeze in mid-air.
Little Prince!
Said one of the cats in a velvety voice.
Hide quickly behind us, and don't peek out.
It turned out these were no ordinary cats, but wizard cats. Grandmother had once told the little prince about them. She said these cats help everyone who gets into trouble.
The boy hid behind the stump where the cats sat, and felt as if thin twigs like cobwebs wrapped around him, appearing from nowhere. The boy became completely invisible against the background of the green forest. The evil sorcerer, coming to his senses, did not see him, and flew away from the clearing.
The prince spent the whole night with the cats, who kept him warm. And in the morning, when it dawned, the brave boy decided to head back to the castle. He decided that he would never again leave the gates without the accompaniment of adults.
The wizard cats were afraid to let the boy go alone, so they went to see him all the way to the castle gates. The King and Queen saw their son from a distance, ran out to meet him, because they hadn't slept all night and had worn themselves out searching for the little prince.
The boy hugged his mum and dad, asked forgiveness for leaving the castle gates without permission, thus breaking their rule. He swore that from then on he would always listen to their guidance, because they only wanted what was best for him.
The boy told about his adventures in the forest and how the wizard cats had saved him from the evil raven-sorcerer. The King offered the kind cats to stay at the castle, promising to feed them well with delicious food and to pet them in the evenings. The cats agreed to such a pleasant offer and stayed to live near the people.
Listening to her mother's story, the kitten fell asleep, purring in his sleep. He was brave and fearless, afraid of nothing, because his mum was with him.
In the morning, before it was fully light, the little ginger kitten woke up, and his mum was not there—she had probably gone to find food. The curious little one peeked out the attic window, stepped his paws over the grate, and found himself on the roof, which was wet and slippery after the night dew.
His paws slipped, and the kitten rolled down. Fortunately, there was an old oak tree near the house, whose branches reached the lower floors. The kitten miraculously grabbed onto a branch and after some time found himself on the ground.
The little bundle found himself on the street alone for the first time. All around was hustle and bustle, people rushing about their business, the noise of cars.
The kitten was frightened; he didn't know where to go. From fear, he ran across the courtyard, and several times people nearly stepped on him. He sat down by a bench and was completely bewildered. He was lost, the little one was scared, what should he do, because he had completely forgotten the way back to his home.
Seeing a multi-storey building across the street, the kitten decided that this must be his home and his mum was there. He ran in that direction, but as he ran out onto the road, he narrowly escaped being hit by a passing car. Fortunately, the driver noticed in time and stopped.
Running into the courtyard of the building, the kitten sat down by one of the entrances, wondering what to do next. Then the entrance door opened, and a large dog ran out, rushing loudly towards the fluffy creature, about to attack it.
The poor kitten, frightened even more, ran away. Not far away in the car park stood a car with an open door, and our hero jumped into it, beside himself with fear. And the dog ran around, continuing to bark loudly.
The car owner, who was loading things into the boot at the time, heard the dog barking and looked towards the car's interior. He looked inside and saw the little ginger kitten huddled on the seat, hiding from the angry dog.
Well, this is an unexpected find!
The man smiled.
Well then, since you've jumped into my car, I'll have to keep you! Besides, today is my granddaughter's birthday and she'll be happy with such a gift!
Masha, look at the gift I've brought you!
Called the grandfather to his granddaughter.
He jumped into my car himself, hiding from the dog!
Grandpa, all my dreams are coming true today!
Masha cried out enthusiastically.
This is the best gift I could ever have dreamed of! I'll call him Ginger!
And so the little curious kitten found himself an owner and stayed to live with people. The mother cat searched for her disobedient son for a long time, but when she learned that he had found a cosy home and caring owners, she was very happy. After all, her little kitten would always be well fed and warmed by love.
