Where The Persian Cat Came From

Once upon a time there was a great Persian hero called Rustem, who was a brave fighter and did many great deeds. One night, Rustem saved a magician from some robbers who had set upon the man suddenly in a lonely place. It being too dark for the magician to return to his own home, Rustem invited the old man to spend the night in his tent and to dine with him.

After supper Rustem and the magician sat outside the tent in the cool air and watched a big fire which Rustem’s retainers had lit to keep out the night-time chill. It was a clear, starlit night and a quick little breeze fluttered the smoke of the fire so that it danced and whirled about above the flames. The stars seemed to dance with the smoke, glittering and gleaming between the shapes and eddies. Here and there a little tongue of darting flame joined in the dance too.

After a while the magician spoke to Rustem. “I should like to make you a gift in return for what you have done for me. Tell me what beautiful thing you most desire and I will make it so.”

However Rustem was a man of deeds who had no great desire for material things. “There is nothing that I desire,” he said, “when I look around me there is more than enough beauty for me to enjoy. At the moment, what could be more beautiful than that smoke and the fire and the stars?”

“In that case, I will make a gift for you out of the smoke and the flame and the stars,” said the magician.

Rustem watched in awe as the magician took a handful of smoke and a flame of fire and two bright stars and kneaded them together for a minute.

At last the magician sat back and opened his hands and said, “Rustem, here is my gift to you.”

Rustem was delighted, for the magician had made a little live creature with long, soft, smoke-grey fur and bright, star-like eyes and with a little red tongue like a tiny flame of fire. The creature danced and capered about, and was a joy to look upon.

“Take it home,” said the magician. “It will be a companion for your children and an ornament for your house.”

Rustem took the kitten home with him and it brought great joy to his household. And that was how the first Persian kitten came into the world.

Found at: Moggycats Cat Pages