My grandfather told me a true story.
When my grandfather was young (before liberation), he ran a caravan and traveled all over the country to sell tea, salt and other things. Once it rained heavily on the road, and they found a family to stay. As soon as they entered the door, there was a cat lying on the ground. One of them was particularly unrefined and kicked the cat away. The cat glared at the man and walked away. At night
, a group of them slept on the floor around the fire. In the middle of the night, a shrill scream woke everyone up. The man who kicked the cat had bloody marks all over his face, and the cat sat on the beam, licking its claws and looking down at everyone.
The next morning, the owner was very sorry to see the guest being caught, but he also explained that the cat had a bad temper and great ability. Since it came to this family, no mouse has been seen.
My grandfather’s family is a small landlord, and a lot of grain is wasted by mice every year. Hearing that this cat is so powerful, he spent three times the price to buy the cat back.
On the first day at home, the tabby cat went to the granary and walked around slowly, meowing a few times. About half an hour later, the mice inside couldn’t help running out. There was also a mother mouse carrying a baby mouse that had not opened its eyes to move. People in the village said that they had never seen such a spectacle. The
old scholar in the village heard the news and came over. After stroking the cat, he opened its mouth and took a closer look. He said that the cat my grandfather bought had 9 engravings on its upper jaw (the old scholar said that a cat with more than 5 is a good cat, and we don’t know what he meant), and it was a cat king picked out of a million. It is said that such a cat king will automatically avoid mice within a hundred feet of it.
The old scholar also taught my grandfather how to judge.
I have always been skeptical about this story.
Later, my family raised several tabby cats. Every time I would catch a cat to show my grandfather if there was a cat king, unfortunately, the best one only had 7 engravings. This one has first-class skills in catching mice, but he especially likes to show off his trophies at the door of his house. When I was eight years old, it was winter. It should have put out dead mice in the first half of the night, and a layer of light snow covered it in the second half of the night. I stepped on a dead mouse when I went out, and I was so scared that I fell to the ground. I didn’t expect that there was a dead mouse under my butt, and I fainted directly. My mother was also very disgusted with its habit, and later gave it away. The most cowardly one has 3 engravings, mainly about living in peace with mice, never catching mice, and deliberately closing its eyes to rest when mice pass by it!!
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