Heirs to a quarrelsome tradition, they made a point of honoring it. When they were children, before the catastrophe, they had been told that dogs chased cats, cats caught birds, birds chased mice, and mice had no other option but to hide…
But one day, a tremor, the surface of the water quivering, and then a roar and the waves rising. One day… and everyone was gone. All but four survivors, the four elders, each representing a different clan. And by now, they’d grown accustomed to living on their own, managing as best they could to survive on their own; the feud had been going on for so long they couldn’t even remember the causes, but the habit was strong; they figured it was too late to do anything about it anyway. However, each in his own corner felt the same chill in the pit of his stomach, and then that slight unease, that tug of loneliness.
One day, however, the cat made an extraordinary decision. He decided to leave the island. He wanted to sail south to see if he could find some peace and quiet. He thought about it for a long time, and finally did the math: he needed wood, vines and a sail. Despite his intelligence and ideas, he lacked much to succeed. He didn’t have the strength to cut and transport the wood, nor the finesse to sew a sail and bind the trunks, and despite his good will, his lost suppleness prevented him from accessing the leaves on the trees, up there perched on branchless trunks, out of reach.
The cat didn’t give up hope though, and spent hours searching for bits of wood on the ground or perched at the end of branches, shearing off the thin twigs with the tip of his teeth. Everyone had noticed that the mouse often followed him at wolf’s pace, discreet in the tall grass, while the bird soared in a circle in the azure sky.
The dog kept circling him, and one day came up to him and said:
“What are you doing?”
” I’m building a boat.”
The dog burst out laughing. A cat building a boat?
“If you want to leave the island, learn to swim instead.”
When the cat didn’t reply, the dog turned his back and walked away. The idea, however, had made its mark on his mind, and it kept turning over and over in the recesses of his head. He, too, dreamed of that thin multicolored ribbon snaking across the horizon. He didn’t know how to build a boat, but he’d seen that it required wood, so he started looking for it. He was old but still very strong, and with his jaw he tore off and dragged heavy branches, which he piled up there on the beach.
The mouse did the same with a few twigs, while the bird watched his three neighbors with amusement: every man for himself, each in his own corner. They even tried to jump into the water with their loose pieces of wood, and all failed. The cat jumped out of the water with bristling hair, the dog struggled as best he could not to sink, while the mouse waded through the foam. The days were hard, but there was nothing to be done, they couldn’t do it alone; none of them, however, dared to ask for help. The bird had already understood, as he was the only one to stand back, but the others would soon understand, fortunately.
The cat, lying exhausted in the sand, turned his head to the right and saw the mouse playing with his cords. Then he turned his head to the left and saw the dog sniffing dejectedly at the large pieces of wood he’d found in the forest. And he understood.
He understood that each of them had what the others didn’t, and that they would only succeed if they joined forces. So he summoned up his courage, swallowed his pride and headed for the dog.
“I need your help, I’m unable to drag these large pieces of wood I need all the way here, and because of that, I can’t hope to build a boat that can sail.”
“I know you can’t do it, but who says I’m interested in your offer? What’s in it for me?”
“Well, you want to get off the island too, don’t you? If you help me, we’ll share the boat and leave together.”
“I don’t know if I want to, really, I just wanted to see if I could do it better than you. What’s out there? Where are you planning to go?”
“Peace.”
So the dog nodded and fetched some logs and large branches, piled them on the beach in front of the cat and asked:
“Now what?”
The cat didn’t know how to answer. He knew what had to be done, but he didn’t know how. He had to weave ropes and wrap them around the wood, but he couldn’t do it with his sharp claws. He looked at the dog’s paws and held back a laugh. No, he wasn’t up to the job either. He was about to give up when he heard a small voice coming out of the sand:
“I know how to weave rope, and I could slip between the branches to tie them together.”
The mouse’s slender snout appeared, and the cat’s first reflex was to grab it and devour it. Quick as a flash, the dog moved into storage.
“She’s our only chance of achieving peace, you have to accept and respect her if you ever want to leave the island.”
So they joined forces and set to work. In less than a week, the boat was ready, sitting like a trophy in the fine sand of the beach. The three neighbors were enthusiastic and smiling; they’d done a great job. They had never imagined that one day they would join forces for the common good.
But the cat, silent for a moment, growled:
“We’re missing the most important thing, the essential thing. We’re missing a sail”
At that very moment, the bird came down from its perch. He had followed the comings and goings of his companions and knew what they would be missing. He hadn’t said anything, he’d done it, and he’d never felt this excitement before, back when the four of them didn’t know each other.
He landed in front of the cat, a little anxious at the thought that it might very well jump on him and devour him.
“If you’ll let me, I can help. I’ve seen you working together, and I’d really like to be part of the group. I can’t stand being alone anymore.”
And against all expectations, the cat smiled and replied:
“I didn’t dare ask you after our past quarrels, but you’re the only one who can really help us. We’ll be delighted to have you on board.”
So the bird went and got his share of the work. They all sat around and spread the leaves on the sand. While the dog and cat laid them out next to each other, the mouse and bird tied them together with the strings from this one.
The boat finally ready, they gathered inside.
“Where are we going now?” asked the mouse.
” We’re going where peace dwells” replied the cat.
” But what is peace?” asked the dog.
The bird stepped forward, ceremoniously:
“It’s good understanding and respect, sharing and common well-being, it’s…”
Leaping up, the mouse was almost lost behind his smile:
“But then… she lives here, doesn’t she?”
Moral:
What’s impossible with competition becomes possible with cooperation. And everyone’s happier for it!
See this writer’s other tale: Le Roi malheureux (The Unhappy King).