The Fat Cat: A Danish Folktale
| The Fat Cat: A Danish Folktale | |
|---|---|
| |
| Author | Jack Kent |
| Publisher | Scholastic Books |
| Original run | 1971 |
| Wikipedia | |
The Fat Cat: A Danish Folktale is the first book adaption of an old Danish folktale by prolific author/illustrator Jack Kent. While it is now difficult to pin down when the original folktale surfaced, many people now see this book as the original version of the story. As such, many of the adaptions created from this tale are heavily based on the contents of this book. And while each version of the story has its little spin to it they generally follow the story beats and lessons about the dangers of gluttony. With that being said, the original story of The Fat Cat goes as follows:
An old woman was cooking a pot of gruel when she needed to stop out to speak with her neighbor. Before she leaves, she asks her cat to look after the pot of gruel while she's gone to which he says he'd be glad to. The gruel looked so good to the cat that he ends up eating all of it, including the pot the gruel was in. When the woman returns she asks the cat what happened to the gruel, never mind the pot. To which the cat responds that he ate both the gruel and the pot too. He then tells the woman that he is going to eat her now and he does.
The cat goes for a walk after eating the old woman and runs across someone named Skohottentot. Skohottentot asks the "little" cat what he has been eating to make him so fat. The cat reiterates everything he has eaten at this point and tells Skohottentot that he is going to be eaten next. After eating Skohottentot, the story follows this pattern with each person the cat comes across: Skolinkenlot, five birds in a flock, seven girls dancing, a lady with a pink parasol, and a parson/pastor with a crooked staff.
The cat finally meets his match when he comes across a woodcutter who asks him the same question. When the cat tells the woodcutter about his intent to eat him, the woodcutter responds that the act is wrong. The woodcutter then uses his ax to cut the cat open and all of the people who were eaten jump out including the old woman who takes her pot of gruel home. As for the cat, the woodcutter stops to bandage him up after everyone else has left.
There are also two additional illustrations just before the story.
