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I was writing this fables because Bala asked me about cats' fables. Though this fables didn't give a good view for a cat, I like to share with all of you. This was a story about a cat and a tiger.

The Story of a Cat and a Tiger

Once upon a time, a cat and a tiger were the very best of friends. In fact, the cat was more of a teacher to the tiger. The cat would teach the tiger on how to hunt in the deep jungle. He also would teach the tiger to art of stalking its prey. The tiger was well know to have a very short temper and easily lost its patience when trying to hunt its prey.

Due to the clumsiness of the tiger, most of the time it failed to catch any prey, so it always went hungry. Therefore, whenever the cat caught any rat, he will share them with the tiger. Since the tiger was much bigger than the cat, it ate a lot. Thus, the cat had to catch a lot of rats to satisfy tiger's hunger. But he never complained. He did it because they were best of friends.

Day by day, the tiger was getting better in mastering the art of stalking its prey. At first, it managed to catch just a small rat. He was so happy, so did the cat. He can see the progress the tiger was making. 

One day, while the cat was sunning itself on the top branch of a tree, a loud noise came from the ground. "O Master Cat, please come now!" bellowed the excited tiger. "Please hurry! I want you to watch me catch a mouse deer." The tiger cannot hide his excitement and eagerness.

Not to hurt his pupil's feelings, though it was really a sunny and good day to take a nap, the cat climbed down the tree with such ease and agility. With a smile he said, "Okay my dear Tiger. Show me." "Shush, don't make any noise. The mouse deer can hear you. Then it will run away, and I can't show you my skills" The tiger admonished the cat. Silently and cautiously both of them were peering at a mouse deer which was happily munching on the grass near the river bank. Suddenly, the tiger roared and pounced the mouse deer. Due to the suddenness of the attack, the tiger managed to catch and killed the mouse deer.

"Well done, dear Tiger. I am so proud of you. You have shown great patience and great skills in killing me this mouse deer" said the cat while enjoying the succulent mouse deer meat with the tiger. He felt like a proud parent. "Hahaha.. I know O Master Cat! I am the best! Soon I will be the best of all the hunters in this wide jungle." said the tiger with a boastful voice. 

"O dear student. Please use your skills carefully." advised the cat. "Hah! Why should I? I have learnt these skills to be the best. Now that I have mastered it, I think I need to use it, and not to hid it" said the proud tiger.

The cat was sad when hearing such words from the tiger. From that day onward, they became strangers. Time passed, and one day, while napping and dreaming chasing a big rat on top of his favourite tree, the cat heard a loud roar. "O Master Cat! Please come down now! Stop being too lazy. I want you to teach me something". 

The cat was surprised hearing the loud roar from the tiger, but at the same time he was happy to see his friend. Eagerly he climbed down from the tree. He tried to hug the tiger but was dismissed. "O my friend the Tiger. I am so happy to see you. It's been a while since we hunt together" the cat cannot contain his excitement when looking at his friend. 

"Ahh .. stop this nonsense. I don't have the time for such nonsense. I just want to see you so that you can teach me how to climb a tree. Now that I am the best hunter in this whole wide jungle, I find that I am still lacking one skill, that is climbing a tree. I want you to teach me now!" 

"Oh my dear friend. You are still being impatient. You need to learn to be patient, then I will teach you on how to climb a tree. Because climbing a tree really needs patient and agility." said the cat. Hearing the words from the cat, the tiger was so angry. "I don't need to be patient! I am the best hunter now. Everyone is afraid of me now. Why do I need to be patient?" he said.

"Then, I am sorry my dear friend. I cannot teach you. I will only teach you if you learn to be patient" said the cat with a sad voice. He was sad when he realised that his friend the tiger had became so arrogant with his new found skills. "What did you say? You don't want to teach me?" the tiger was so angry that spits spewing from his mouth. "I want you to teach me now, otherwise I will kill you" the tiger said.

The cat hastily ran and climbed his favourite tree. He sat on his favourite branch and cannot stop from shedding a few tears. Tears for the lost of friendship, tears of regret. The tiger was furious. He waited and waited and waited. After some times, the tiger was getting impatient. He growled a few times, but to no avail. The cat sat patiently on the tree branch.

The tiger finally had enough, and left. Before he left, he said a few parting words to the cat. "Don't ever let me meet you or your family. This time I am letting you go. But even if I smell your excrement, I will hunt you down and kill you".

The cat was so sad when hearing the parting words. He decided to leave his beloved jungle, and go to the nearest village. He always remember tiger's parting words. Therefore, ever time he defecated, he will make sure that his excrement will leave no odour. That was why cat will bury its excrement and sniff it around to make sure no odour will ever leaked through.

~~~~~~~ The End ~~~~~~~

Hahaha .. I hope you enjoyed reading this fables. Bala , you are making me seek high and low for this story, because it was centuries ago that I read this one. Thank you for making me remember this fables.