Reading Notes: Jewish Fairy Tales, Part A

The Quarrel of the Cat and Dog from Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends by Gertrude Landa.

The story starts off by establishing the dog and the cat as good friends.  They do a lot of things together, like hunting and supplying food for themselves.  But the two creatures are gravely different:

Cat is sly while dog is strong, as the canine and feline both profess.  The cat is also a bit petulant, growing upset when the winter comes and makes the pair go hungry.  Their hunger makes them fall into unhappiness and cat suggests they end their friendship so that the two can take their separate ways and survive.

In that scene, and for the rest of the story, she is shown as unfriendly and rather selfish as she terminates their friendship simply because the cat thinks the dog is a fool and too nice.  It’s true that the dog is very kind and good-hearted.  While the cat goes to keep the mice out of Adam’s house, the dog tries to keep those who help his safe.  He scares off attackers for a wolf and sheep, until he finally comes to Adam – who he alerts to thieves.

Cat is not pleased when her old friend comes to Adam’s home, as she had made the dog promise to not come to where she lived.  Although the dog would love nothing more than to be friends again, the cat refuses and attacks him despite Adam’s insistence they become friends again.

Cat’s personality coincides with many perceptions of cats today as driven and egotistical creatures.  Many people think of cats as callous, largely unfriendly pets.  On the other hand, dogs are seen as loving and playful, as cuddly and friendly creatures that only want to be your friend.  Dog follows the main idea of the “man’s best friend” with his big heart and loyalty.

The story really reminded me of the movie, Cats and Dogs, where an evil feline is trying to take over the world as the dog Spy Agency manages to stop them and give their owners lots of love!  With ninja cats and a dog computer-technician, the movie really takes its own spin on the quarrel between cats and dogs.

Image from Wikipedia