ord Pippo, your
Majesty's most humble slave, sends you this fish with all reverence,
and says, A small present to a great lord.'" Then the King, with a
joyful face, as one usually shows to those who bring a gift, answered
the cat, "Tell this lord, whom I do not know, that I thank him
heartily."

Again, the cat would run to the marshes or the fields, and when the
fowlers had brought down a blackbird, a snipe, or a lark, she caught it
up and presented it to the King with the same message. She repeated
this trick again and again, until one morning the King said to her, "I
feel infinitely obliged to this Lord Pippo, and am desirous of knowing
him, that I may make a return for the kindness he has shown me." And
the cat replied, "The desire of my Lord Pippo is to give his life for
your Majesty's crown; and tomorrow morning, without fail, as soon as
the Sun has set fire to the stubble of the fields of air, he will come
and pay his respects to you."

So when the morning came, the cat went to the King, and said to him:
"Sire, my Lord Pippo sends to excuse himself for not coming, as last
night some of his servants robbed him and ran off, and have not left
him a single shirt to his back." When the King heard this, he instantly
commanded his retainers to take out of his own wardrobe a quantity of
clothes and linen, and sent them to Pippo; and, before two hours had
passed, Pippo went to the palace, conducted by the cat, where he
received a thousand compliments from the King, who made him sit beside
himself, and gave him a banquet that would amaze you.

While they were eating, Pippo from time to time turned to the cat and
said to her, "My pretty puss, pray take care that those rags don't slip
through our fingers." Then the cat answered, "Be quiet, be quiet; don't
be talking of these beggarly things." The King, wishing to know the
subject of their talk, the cat made answer that Pippo had taken a fancy
to a small lemon; whereupon the King instantly sent out to the garden
for a basketful. But Pippo returned to the same tune about the old
coats and shirts, and the cat again told him to hold his tongue. Then
the King once more asked what was the matter, and the cat had another
excuse to make amends for Pippo's rudeness.

At last, when they had eaten and conversed for some time about one
thing and another, Pippo took his leave; and the cat stayed with the
King, describing the worth, the wisdom, and the judgment of Pippo; and,
above a