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The Cat's Tale - as Adapted by Dr. Mike Lockett, The Normal Storyteller

Preparation for adults sharing this story with children:  Think back of when you were in school and wanted to talk without getting into trouble.  Remember how you had to raise your hand?  Raise your hand in the air, and bend your hand over.  You now have a "cat's tail" to use in the story whenever the cat moves its tail back and forth.

Whenever you talk about the mouse hole, have the children touch their index fingers (pointer fingers) and thumbs together, making a hole.  Then hold the hole up in front of your eye as though peering into it.  Continue using creative dramatics to make the story come alive for children as you tell it.  A complete version of "The Cat's Tale" is recorded on Tales from the Hills by Dr. Lockett.  The CD can be ordered on line.

A long time ago, there was a cat.  Now, this cat had a problem.  He was always hungry.

One day, he found a way to solve his problem.  He went up to a mouse hole.  He'd look into the mouse hole and say, "Is there a mouse in there?"

Then, he'd shake his head up and down and say, "Yup. yup, yup!  There's a mouse in there!"  He'd put his tail high in the air in front of the mouse hole and start moving it back and forth, while saying, "Meow.. Meow.. Meow."

Pretty soon, a mouse would come out.  The mouse would see the tail and wouldn't be able to take his eyes off it.  The mouse would become hypnotized.

The cat would take his other front paw and reach around until ... "Gotcha!"  He'd grab the mouse in his paw and bring it up to his mouth.  Then he'd eat it!  Umm!  It was good, sometimes a little furry, but it was good.  Then, the cat wouldn't be hungry ... until the next day.

By the next day the cat would be hungry again.  He'd go up to a mouse hole.  He'd look into the mouse hole and say, "Is there a mouse in there?"

Then, he'd shake his head up and down and say, "Yup. yup, yup!  There's a mouse in there!"  He'd put his tail high in the air in front of the mouse hole and start moving it back and forth, while saying, "Meow.. Meow.. Meow."

Pretty soon, another mouse would come out.  The mouse would see the tail and wouldn't be able to take his eyes off it.  The mouse would become hypnotized.

The cat would take his other front paw and reach around until ... "Gotcha!"  He'd grab the mouse in his paw and bring it up to his mouth.  Then he'd eat it!  Umm!  It was good, sometimes a little bony, but the bones made good toothpicks, and the cat wouldn't be hungry again ... until the next day.

This happened day after day after day, until one day the cat was hungry ... and went up to a mouse hole.  look into the mouse hole and said, "Is there a mouse in there?"

Then, he shook his head up and down and said, "Yup. yup, yup!  There's a mouse in there!"  He put his tail high in the air in front of the mouse hole and started moving it back and forth, while saying, "Meow.. Meow.. Meow."

Pretty soon, another mouse would came out.  The mouse saw the tail and couldn't take his eyes off it.  The mouse became hypnotized.

The cat took his other front paw and reach around until ... "Gotcha!"  He grabbed the mouse in his paw and started to bring it up to his mouth, when the mouse realized what was happening.

"What's the matter with you?" asked the mouse before the cat could eat him.  "Don't you have any manners?  Where I come from, the cat's always wash before they eat!"

"Wash before I eat?" said the cat.  "I'm a cat.  I don't wash before I eat."

"Well, that's disgusting," said the mouse.

"That's okay," said the cat.  "I've been disgusting before."

"Well it's awful," said the mouse.

"That's okay," said the cat.  "I've been awful before too."

"Well, it's OOGY!" said the mouse!

"OOGY?" restated the cat, "Oogy's not even a word!  I don't know what OOGY is ... but I don't want to be OOGY!"

Well, it's OOGY to eat me without washing first," said the mouse.  "You've been walking around in your litter box and scratching everywhere, and you're going to eat me without watching???  That's OOGY!"

"Wash before I eat?" the cat questioned again.  Then, he sat the mouse down in front of him and pointed at him.  "Stay right there," he said.  "Don't move!"  The cat pointed at his own head and said, "Don't even THINK about it!"

The cat started to wash while keeping an eye on the mouse and stopped again to point and say, "Stay right there!  Don't move!  Don't even think about it." 

Then, he started washing without thinking.  He licked and washed all over.  When he was done, he looked down and ... "Whoosh!" ... the mouse was gone.

Then, the cat looked around to see if anyone was watching him.  It's just like you and I do when we do something we shouldn't do or when we do something silly.  We look around to see if someone is watching us.  That's what happened that time.  The cat looked around and saw another cat watching.  It was the cat with the biggest mouth in town.

The cat told his friends, neighbors and even told the cats he didn't like.  That's how it all got started, because today every cat has heard the story.  Every cat, no matter how large or how small eats first and washes after.

That's why cats always wash after they eat.  "Meow!" 

Note: Dr. Lockett first heard this story told by National Storyteller, Michael Parent, at a workshop in Normal, IL.  Mr. Parent gave permission to the participants of the workshop to tell the story.  Since that time, Dr. Lockett has seen several versions of the tale in public domain stories and used them to create the tale told above.  If you want to read other stories by Mike Lockett, The Normal Storyteller, please visit his site at  www.mikelockett.com