In the attic of a small apartment building lived a cat with her little ginger kitten. They had no owners, and so the mother cat had to find food for herself and her little kitten on her own. It was difficult for the mother cat, as it was not easy to find food independently in a big city. It was fortunate that kind people sometimes brought bowls with 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 washed his fur with her tongue, and the little furry bundle purred.
Mummy, tell me a story!
The kitten asked.
About a brave prince and magical cats!
And the cat began her story in a gentle, unhurried voice.
Once upon a time, in a great castle lived a young prince who from birth was very curious. He was interested in everything, loved to ride horses and play with the court dogs. But one thing 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 hares, to touch the cold water in the river.
And so one day, a castle worker was leaving through the gates and forgot to close them behind him. The prince could not resist and went through the gates. Only it was already beginning to get dark outside, but this did not stop the brave boy. He headed towards the forest, waving his wooden sword, he ran and was glad to be free, breathing in the scent of fragrant meadow grasses. The prince enjoyed what seemed to him like freedom.
But the boy had barely entered the forest when 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 did 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 the eyes of these cats glowed with green light. Surprisingly, he was not even frightened, but rather delighted when he saw them.
The cats looked intently at the black raven, and it seemed to freeze in the air.
Little prince!
Said one of the cats in a velvety voice.
Hide quickly behind us, and do not look out.
It turned out that these were not ordinary cats, but magical cats. Grandmother had once told the little prince about them. She said that these cats help everyone who gets into trouble.
The boy hid behind the stump where the cats sat, felt thin twigs like cobwebs wrapping 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 make his way back to the castle. He decided that he would never again leave the gates without the accompaniment of adults.
The magical 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 afar, ran out to meet him, for they had not slept all night and had worn themselves out searching for the little prince.
The boy embraced his mother and father, asked forgiveness for leaving the castle gates without permission, thus breaking their rule. He swore that from now on he would always listen to their guidance, since they only wanted the best for him.
The boy told of his adventures in the forest, and how the magical 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 with the people.
Listening to her mother's story, the kitten fell asleep, purring in his sleep. He was brave and fearless, afraid of nothing, for his mother was with him.
In the morning, when it was not yet quite dawn, the little ginger kitten woke up, his mother was not beside him—she had probably gone to find food. The curious little one looked out of the attic window, stepped his paws over the grating, 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 did not know where to go, and in his fear he ran across the yard, nearly being stepped on several times. He sat down beside a bench and was completely bewildered. He was lost, the little one was scared, what should he do, for 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 mother was there. He ran in that direction, but as he ran out onto the road, he narrowly missed 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 near one of the entrances, wondering what to do next. Then the entrance door opened, and out ran a large dog, rushing loudly towards the fluffy creature, about to attack him.
The poor kitten, frightened even more, ran away, and 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 interior. He looked inside and saw a 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 delighted with such a gift!
Masha, look at the present I've brought you!
Called the grandfather to his granddaughter.
He jumped into my car himself, hiding from the dog!
Grandfather, all my dreams are coming true today!
Masha cried out enthusiastically.
This is the best present 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 pleased. For her little kitten would always be well fed and warmed by love.
