Ma's Blackie

Once upon a time a lady was given a tiny kitten. The kitten was solid black and very fluffy. She was very playful and the neighborhood kids loved to find random pieces of string to come play. They would refer to the kitten as Ma's Blackie. They watched this tiny kitten to grow to be rather large for the typical cat. She grew to be more the size of a Corgi dog. Even with her size, the children still loved her. Every day they would play and climb trees together. Blackie's day was like most other cats': eat, nap, and play.

One day Blackie went and asked Ma to go together to take a trip to the forest. There were many big trees there she wanted to explore. Ma advised there was too much to get done. She couldn't leave with so much left to do. Blackie decided she must find a way to help so they could go together. It wouldn't be as fun without Ma. Blackie examined each of Ma's jobs to see where she could help. There was the washing, but that sounded terrible. Who wants to mess with water? There was the cleaning, but not having thumbs to hold the rags or brooms made that difficult. There was the cooking but too many people would complain about hair in their food. She had overheard that complaint several times before. It seemed like nothing would work.

Blackie sadly lay on the ground and felt useless. A conversation suddenly came into earshot: "These darn moles are impossible to get rid of! I have hired so many exterminators and no one can seem to solve my problem. What I wouldn't give to get rid of these pests!"

"I could help with that," Blackie thought internally.

"What about getting a cat to help?" said someone in response.

"I don't want to have to keep one forever. That's just as annoying," came the reply.

Blackie decided to see if she could offer her services. "Perhaps we can make a deal," she suggested. They came to an agreement of two silver coins for every mole she got out of the garden. She quickly got to work catching and relocating all the moles to the forest. When she was done she approached the man for payment. The man counted one silver coin for each instead of two. She lay in front of the gate to the garden and refused to let anyone pass. Because she was a bigger cat, many were too intimidated to even try to approach. Finally the man gave in and gave Blackie the remaining silver coins that he owed her. She took them and happily took them home. Ma was very happy, and hugged Blackie. Afterwords, Blackie did the work while Ma would rest and then they would spend their free time in the forest. They lived very happily ever-after.

(Image on left from Flickr)

Author's Note: The original story was about a baby elephant that was gifted to Granny. The children loved this elephant. He would carry the kids and he would use his trunk to swing them around. He only ate, slept, played, and visited Granny. One day he wanted her to go to the woods. She told him she hd too much work, and he saw how tired she was and decided to help. He got a job to help pull wagons across a river. After the job was done the man didn't pay him the agreed amount. The elephant stood in the way so they couldn't leave. Eventually the man paid him what was owed and he took it back to Granny. I used the story of Granny's Blackie, but changed the elephant to a cat. We all know by now I have a soft spot for cats and it felt like a comfortable twist to make. I stuck pretty close to the original story line. I just tweaked it enough to make more sense for the change of main animal. Obviously cats can't swing kids but they can climb trees; they can't pull wagons but are great hunters. I also tried to give inner dialog to the cat contemplating different options of helping. The moles I had just relocated because I hate the thought of death for almost anything. So I tried to make the story as kind as I could, but still make sense. I hope in the changes I made the story is more relatable.

Bibliography:

“Granny's Blackie.” Gateway to the Classics: Jatakas Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt

Banner image from Flickr