Page 4 - Nutshell 1

“Did he hope the humans would go away if all their food was
eaten by the mice and rats?” asked Kitty Boy Floyd.
“No, not at all. He wanted to re-establish the balance of nature.
So he sent some very pregnant cats to go have their litter right at the
edge of the granaries. At first the people chased them off. But then,
once the kittens were born and weaned, their mothers began
hunting in order to feed them and teach them how to catch game,
the same as your mother is doing right now. The people saw that the
cats were catching rodents in the granaries at night, and they
stopped persecuting the cats. Soon the next generation of cats
became accustomed to finding food near people, and people got
used to having them around. So that is how a very smart king of the
cats turned human beings from a dangerous enemy into a loyal
servant and defender. Both sides prospered, and now there are
humans eating grain all over the world, and cats eating mice right
along with them.”
“So that is how we cats domesticated man?” asked Meringue.
“That’s right,” said Grandcat. “Now there are millions of people
serving food and providing shelter to millions of us everywhere.”
Meringue was not satisfied with that answer. “But, Grandcat:
couldn’t you also say that we cats became domesticated, too?”
Old Grimalkin had no answer, and was happy to hear the kittens’
mother approaching with dinner.