mowing; the
cornfields where the good people were reaping; until at last we are
escorted to the stately castle where the Ogre dwelt.

The plot of the tale is very pleasing as it easily arranges itself
into a simple drama of three acts:--

Act I,
Scene i. Revery of the Master. The Cat's promise to help.
Scene ii. Puss in the rabbits' warren with his bag.
Scene iii. Puss takes the rabbits to the King in his
palace.

Act II,
Scene i. Puss with his bag in the cornfield.
Scene ii. Puss takes partridges to the King.
Scene iii. Puss and his Master. Puss gives advice.

Act III,
Scene i. The Marquis bathing and Puss by the river-side.
Scene ii. The Drive. Puss runs before and meets the mowers.
Scene iii. The Ogre's Castle. Puss's reception of the coach.
Marriage of the Marquis of Carabas. Puss
becomes a Lord.

The tale possesses an appeal to the emotions, we want Puss-in-Boots to
accomplish whatever scheme he invents, and we want the Miller's son to
win the Princess. Its appeal to the imagination is an orderly
succession of images, varied and pleasing. The invention of Puss and
his successful adventures make the tale one of unusual interest,
vivacity, and force. The transformation of the Ogre into a Lion and
again into a Mouse, and the consequent climax of Puss's management of
the Mouse, bring in the touch of the miraculous. A similar
transformation occurs in Hesiod, where the transformed Metis is
swallowed by Zeus. This transformation may be produced by a witch,
when the help of another is needed, as in _Beauty and the Beast_ and
in _Hansel and Grethel_; or the transformation may come from within,
as in this case when the Ogre changes himself into a Mouse, or when a
man changes himself into a Wolf. A situation which parallels the theme
of Puss-in-Boots occurs in _The Golden Goose_ where Dummling gets as
his share only a goose, but having the best disposition makes his
fortune out of his goose. Grimm's _Three Feathers_ also contains a
similar motif. D'Aulnoy's _White Cat_, the feminine counterpart of
_Puss-in-Boots_, is a tale of pleasing fancy in which the hero wins
the White Cat, a transformed Princess, who managed to secure for him,
the youngest son, the performance of all the tasks his father had set
for him.

But the most interesting parallel of _Puss-in-Boots_ is the No