Another story from the same
story stone set, in Rudyard Kipling's "Just So Stories" style: Why Cats Like to Scratch Tree Trunks.
Once, there lived a wise owl in a forest. He asked me, "Do you know why cats like to scratch tree trunks?"
I shook my head, and he started his story.
Long time ago, there was a boy who lived with his cat in a village. One morning, they wanted to visit their friend, Giraffe, in the other village. The boy pedalled the bike with his cat sit behind. They reached Giraffe's village at noon, and Giraffe served them with some apples. The cat asked if he can get something else to eat instead of apples. The giraffe gave a fresh fish to the cat. The apples were so sweet and the fish was so delicious. When it was time to go home, the boy asked Giraffe if he could bring the apple seeds home to plant for the apples were so delicious. Giraffe wrapped the apple seeds and put them in the boy's bag. Secretly, the cat did the same to the fish bone (that was the word "copycat" came from, the cat did the copy). So there in the boy's bag, laid the apple seeds and the fish bone.
When they reached home, the boy planted the apple seeds. And again, secretly the cat copy what the boy did, planting his fish bone, next to the apple seeds. Years went by and the apple seeds grew into trees, bigger and taller. But from the fish bone grew nothing. The cat felt disappointed.
Finally, one day the apple trees started to bear fruits. The boy was so excited! But on the other side, the cat became so angry and jealous. He scratched the apple's tree trunk. And then, not only to the apple's tree trunk he scratched, but to all of tree trunks he found.
"Now you know where the word "copycat" came from and why cats like to scratch tree trunks."
And the wise owl flew away.
