Everybody knows that the dog and cat, the cat and the mouse are not friends. Yet there was a time when these three animals got along very well together.
Here is the story of how they became enemies.
Once there was a mighty king who ruled over a large-and rich country. The fields were green, the cattle fat and the people happy. Near the capital, where the king lived, was a large forest. Often the king and his ministers went to the forest to hunt. They never returned home without some animal which they had caught.
One day the king went to the forest with his friends and nobles. When they entered the forest they saw a strange sight. Dead deer, and wild goats and pigs were lying all over the ground. All the dead animals were half-eaten. It looked as if a greedy giant had taken a bite here and there.
The king flew into a temper. How could this happen in his kingdom! He ordered his nobles to find out who had killed the animals. But though his nobles searched everywhere, they could not find the culprit. After many hours of searching, they decided to return home. But one of the nobles stayed behind. He hid himself in the midst of some thick bushes.
Not long after the sun had set, he heard the whirling of mighty wings above the branches of the trees. To his surprise, many animals ran in fright out of the bushes. A moment later, a giant eagle dived down upon them. With his sharp claws and hard beak the huge bird attacked the frightened animals. Soon they all lay dead on the ground. The bird then began to eat them. He ate only the most tender parts of the bodies. When he had eaten enough, he spread his great wings and flew up into the sky.
The nobleman told the king all that he had seen. Immediately the king sent soldiers to guard the forest, so that the eagle could not hunt there anymore. So the eagle began to attack cattle in the village.
Every night the villagers found some of their buffaloes, goats or horses killed. Many of the villagers became poor. Without their buffaloes they could not plow their fields, and they could not grow enough rice. They decided to ask the king to help them. The king offered a big reward to anyone who could kill the bird. A few noblemen tried but none of them was clever enough. The great bird swooped down on them so fast they did not have time to strike with their swords. They were torn to pieces by its sharp claws and hard beak. Soon nobody wanted to fight the bird.
The king did not know what to do. He offered a larger reward but no one wished to lose his life for gold.
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