The Great Rat by Pu Songling
During Emperor Wan Li’s reign, a huge rat in the palace eats every cat sent to catch it. A white lion-cat received as foreign tribute repeatedly flees from the rat until it is exhausted, then seizes and kills it, proving that the watchers mistook its tactics for fear.
By Pu Songling · Genre: Short Story, Animal Tale · 275 words
First lines
During the reign of the Emperor Wan Li,[1] the palace was troubled by the presence of a huge rat, quite as big as a cat, which ate up all the cats that were set to catch it. Just then it chanced that among the tribute offerings sent by some foreign State was a lion-cat, as white as snow. This cat was accordingly put into the room where the rat usually appeared; and, the door being closely shut, a secret watch was kept. By-and-by the rat came out of its hole and rushed at the cat, which turned and fled, finally jumping up on the table. The rat followed, upon which the cat jumped down; and thus they went on up and down for some time. Those who were watching said the cat was afraid and of no use; however, in a little while the rat began to jump less briskly, and soon after squatted down out of breath. Then the cat rushed at it, and, seizing the rat by the back of the neck, shook and shook while its victim squeaked and squeaked, until life was extinct. Thus they knew the cat was not afraid, but merely waited for its adversary to be fatigued, fleeing when pursued and itself pursuing the fleeing rat. Truly, many a bad swordsman may be compared with that rat!
Genres
- Short Story — A single palace encounter follows the failed attempts to catch a rat through the lion-cat’s decisive victory.
- Animal Tale — The action centers on a rat and a cat whose repeated retreats exhaust its opponent before the final attack.
Tags
cats · rats · combat tactics · palace · foreign tribute
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The Great Rat is listed on Textopian as a short story by Pu Songling, dated Date unknown.
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- Work type: Short story
- Author: Pu Songling
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Short Story, Animal Tale
- Length: 275 words
- Structure: 1 section, 2 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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