Puss in Boots

In Puss in Boots by Charles Perrault, three sons lose their father. There is only a little bit of inheritance. The oldest son receives the mill, the second son receives a donkey, and the third son receives the cat.

The youngest son feels disappointed as his brothers have enough to work together to make a living. This son… has a cat.

After hearing the boy’s plan to eat the cat for survival, the cat speaks up. The cat assures the boy that, if he gives him a pair of boots, the cat will earn its keep.

The cat is a good little hunter and catches a rabbit and presents it to the king saying it’s a gift from his master, The Marquis (the cat made that name up).

Then the cat, impressing the king again, arrives with a number of partridges. Again, the cat says they are a gift from its master.

Now, the clever kitty contrives to have the king meet his master. So, the cat has the boy wash in the river on a day the king is driving past. The cat convinces the king that his master, The Marquis, had all his clothes stolen. Because the king is so impressed with the cat, he helps by gifting the boy nice clothes and a ride in his carriage where the boy meets the princess.

The boy makes eyes at the princess and she starts to fall for him. He’s handsome and looks extra noble in his borrowed finery.

Meanwhile, the cat goes on ahead and convinces two groups of field hands to say the crops they are tending belong to The Marquis. So, as the king rides past blooming fields and asks to whom they belong, he becomes more and more impressed with this boy.

The cat’s final stop is at an ogre’s castle. This ogre can shape shift. The cat tricks the ogre into showing off his ability and after a couple transformations, the ogre transforms into a mouse and the cat gobbles up the ogre.

Now, the king (along with his daughter and the boy) find themselves at the castle which the cat says belongs to the boy. The king, even more impressed, proposes to him for his daughter right there and then and…

They live happily ever after.