"The hand of the diligent will rule, and the lazy one will be subject to tribute.” (Bible, Prov. ١٢:٢٤.)
A black cat lived in the basement of a sixteen-story building. He was lazy, he didn’t like to work—well, he didn’t want to at all. It was not in his nature. I’m too lazy to get up in the morning, too lazy to look for food during the day, and too lazy to go to bed at night. He kept walking and looking for opportunities where he could eat without having to work. He had several friends whom he liked to visit from time to time. It was he who called them friends, although they did not think so. And all because he only came to them to eat and then left. And he himself never brought anything or helped.
Once again he was going to visit his friend Serik, who lived in the neighboring basement. He came, pretended to be sick and said:
“I’m completely weak, I’m coughing and sneezing.” I don’t even have the strength to find something to eat. Do you have anything for me?
Serik was a kind cat and therefore could not refuse his neighbor. Although he knew that he was very lazy, he felt sorry for the sick cat.
“Come in,” Serik tells him, “I don’t have much food, but what I have, I’ll share.”
And our hero pretended to have a cold and walked in, pretending to cough. When he was full, he thanked his friend and went home.
So days after days passed, and the cat lived without worries.
One day he decided to go to his friend Usatik. He lived far away, and the cat knew: it would take a long time to walk. One thing made him happy: there he would be able to eat something tasty. Usatik has fish, sausages, and you can even get fried oysters. Heading to his friend, the cat passed by a huge garbage container and suddenly noticed something shiny. There was a glimmer of gold in his eyes. He became curious. He climbed onto the container and pulled out a strange thing. It turned out to be a piece of black material, and on top was a hat with a shiny feather. Кот покрутил ее, повертел. He figured it out for himself, and she fit him. And the hat fits the head, and the cape fits the size. Then he noticed a piece of broken mirror near the trash container. He took it, looked at himself and was stunned with surprise.
“This is the prince!” - he thought.
He stood on his hind legs, pulled his nose up, straightened his shoulders and realized that he looked like the Leader. Without hesitation, the cat decided to pretend to be the Leader of all the cat families in their area. No one will recognize him under this cape, but, on the contrary, everyone will now fear him and will obey him. From this thought the cat purred and walked home with an important step. As he approached the house, he noticed some of his neighbors. Then he assumed an even more important look and spoke in a menacing voice:
– Listen to me, everyone! I am the Leader in this area. You must submit to me and obey me. “Whoever does not obey will suffer,” he shouted. -Today at six o’clock there will be a meeting of cats in the basement of the lazy cat. So that every single one of you will be there, and without being late,” the Leader shouted even louder.
Everyone shook and trembled. And by six o’clock a full collection of cats arrived at his house.
The Leader Cat stood up and began his speech:
– So, now, with the arrival of the new government, you are all obliged to pay me tribute. Each family must bring me one mouse every day. On weekends there would be fish and boiled crayfish. On cat holidays, you are required to bring me a smoked chicken leg and milk. If you do not follow this order, you will be punished first, and if you are guilty a second time, your head will be taken off your shoulders.
The entire collection of cats began to tremble. It was a strange decree, but you can’t go against the Leader. We'll have to do it. Everyone went home upset, and the Leader Cat was terribly pleased that no one had exposed him.
And from that day his life flowed like clockwork. From early morning, cats came to him and brought mice. On weekends he feasted on a variety of fish. And on holidays he had a real stomach holiday. Our cat quickly recovered and began to look like a real Leader.
One day a thin red cat comes to him. She knelt down and began to beg:
– Forgive me, oh great Leader, I can’t bring you anything today. You see, my husband had an accident and is lying at home with broken paws. I also have five small kittens, and I need to feed them something. I can’t give you anything today, but as soon as I find something, I promise I’ll bring it all.
Somewhere the Leader Cat felt sorry for the red cat, but he couldn’t show it. They will think what kind of Leader this is, who is taken with pity. You have to be stricter with them, otherwise you might end up completely hungry.
– No, I won’t allow this! - he shouted. – You must bring me a mouse every day!
The poor cat began to sob and her paws began to shake. And the Leader Cat continued:
- Okay, I can spare you once, but only on the condition that tomorrow two mice will lie on my side.
“Thank you, thank you,” the red-haired girl was delighted, “you are so kind, so good.” I'll try to give it all away tomorrow.
And she ran home.
The Leader Cat is left alone and thinks: “Am I kind? In my opinion, I am the cruelest cat on the planet. Why am I so cruel? I have whole boxes of mice, chickens, fish, milk, crayfish. Enough to feed everyone. And I scared the poor cat so much. She should have given her at least some food to feed the children. But no! I can’t do that. If I am kind to some, others will also ask for mercy, and then I will remain hungry. No, rules are rules."
So he profited from other people’s labor and grief, and punished for non-payment of tribute.
And then one day a thin, exhausted white cat with black spots came to him. He was so exhausted that he simply fell in front of the Leader Cat. The white cat said in a quiet voice:
– Tomorrow is a holiday, and I know that I should bring a chicken, but I can’t even bring a mouse. I've been chasing mice all day today and haven't caught anything. Have mercy.
“No,” the Leader yelled, “I’ll stop feeling sorry for you.” I'm not doing charity work here. Where's my whip? Your punishment is twenty lashes.
And the Leader Cat began to beat him. The blows were so strong that the white cat could not stand it and screamed. The cats in the area heard this cry and became curious. They ran to the Leader’s house to see what was happening there. And just at this time Usatik was walking nearby. He saw the cats running somewhere and he followed them. The cats ran into the basement and looked at a white cat, all beaten up, lying on the floor and not moving. Everyone was scared and trembled.
Then Usatik realized what the matter was and got angry, he was tired of all this. He plucked up courage, approached the Leader and said:
– You are cruel and nasty, you take away the last food, you punish the poor, you beat cats half to death. Get out of here, we don't need a Leader like that. A leader is someone who leads, helps, does good and serves others, while you only commit cruel acts - and that’s all!
With these words, he grabbed the Leader by the hat and pulled it. The hat flew off, the cape fell, and all the cats gasped. Can't be! In front of them stood their lazy old neighbor.
Usatik was also very surprised by this turn of events. And the Leader Cat didn’t know where to go from shame. He would have been glad to fall underground, but he couldn’t.
All the cats froze in surprise, and only after a few minutes, after catching their breath, they began to whisper among themselves. They wanted to severely punish the lazy cat. And Usatik offered to leave him intact, but on the condition that he would visit all the families in the area every day, and if he saw that someone needed something, he would help them.
Everyone agreed, and they decided to make Mustache a real Leader, so that he could teach them useful things, manage the work and find an opportunity to provide help to those who need it. And the lazy cat became his servant and carried out all his instructions until the end of his days.
