When the Cat had what he asked for he booted himself very gallantly, and putting his bag about his neck, he held the strings of it in his two forepaws and went into a warren16 where was great abundance of rabbits. He had often seen him play a great many cunning tricks to catch rats and mice,15 as when he used to hang by the heels, or hide himself in the meal, and make as if he were dead so that he did not altogether despair of his affording him some help in his miserable condition. The Cat's master did not build very much upon what he said. You have nothing else to do but to give me a bag13 and get a pair of boots14 made for me that I may scamper through the dirt and the brambles, and you shall see that you have not so bad a portion in me as you imagine.' 'Do not thus afflict yourself, my good master. The Cat, who heard all this, but made as if he did not, said to him with a grave and serious air:12 'My brothers,' said he, 'may get their living handsomely enough by joining their stocks together but for my part, when I have eaten up my cat,10 and made me a muff of his skin,11 I must die of hunger.' They would soon have eaten up all the poor patrimony.8 The eldest had the mill, the second the ass, and the youngest nothing but the cat.9 The poor young fellow was quite comfortless at having so poor a lot. Neither scrivener6 nor attorney7 was sent for. 409.THERE was a miller1 who left no more estate to the three sons2 he had than his mill,3 his ass,4 and his cat.5 The partition was soon made. The cat takes possession of a castle for his master by killing an ogre. The king's daughter falls in love with the handsome boy at once. He dresses him in clothes from his own wardrobe.

One day, the king rescues the boy from drowning. The cat makes friends with the king by bringing him wild game in the name of his master. He tells the boy he will make his fortune. Pentamerone was not published in France during Perrault's lifetime. Straparola's story was published in France in 1560. The book was a great success.Ī tale from Gianfrancesco Straparola's Le piacevoli notti ( English: The Pleasant Nights) (1550-55) and another from Giambattista Basile's Pentamerone (1634) are similar to 'Puss in Boots'. It was published in Paris in 1697 by Claude Barbin in Histoires ou contes du temps passé ( English: Stories or Tales of Past Times), a collection of eight fairy tales by Perrault. The story first appeared in a handwritten manuscript in 1695 with four other tales by Perrault. It is about a cat who uses tricks and lies to gain power, money, and a princess in marriage for his lowborn master. The story is the classic 'animal as helper' tale. It was written/recorded by Charles Perrault.

Puss in Boots by Charles Perrault