Sell me Your Cat! A modern fairy tale

("Ïðîäàé Êîòà!" - àíãë âàðèàíò)

“I want this cat!” - a capricious children's voice sounded right under the Inga’s window, breaking and crushing against the walls of the surrounding houses.
    “But, sonny,” a hoarse female voice answered him, “this is someone else's cat. You see, he has a collar and a medallion. We'll buy you another cat.”
    “So, what! I want this!” the childish voice continued to yell. “I want it, I said it! Are you hearing me? I want exactly this cat!”
   “We'll find you almost the same.”
    “And I do not want almost the same, I want only this!” hysterical children's voice turned into a howl: “I want this caaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!”
    A woman's voice whispered something, and then both voices began to move away. A few minutes later the doorbell rang. Inga went to open. In the open doorway stood a short, pretty woman with a pale face, on which only lips tinted with dark red lipstick were stood out. Lips quivered slightly and parted:
    “Good afternoon.”
    “Good aft...”
   “Excuse me, I want to talk about your cat,” the woman said it in the same hoarse voices. “Was it your cat walking on the balcony?”
    “He lives here, but what actually he...”
    “You see,” the woman impatiently interrupted Inga, “my son really likes your cat. Could you give it away to us?”
    “What do you mean give away him to you?” asked Inga with astonishment in her voice.
    “Maybe sell it then? I will pay well. Is one hundred dollars enough?”
    “What are you...”
    “Two hundred?”
    “The tomcat is not a thing, and he couldn’t be for sale ever.”
     “But it belongs to you, so you can...”
     “I told you, the tomcat lives here, are you don't understand me well?” Inga began to lose patience. “Leave, please. The tomcat is not for sale. And never will be. Not for any money.”
    The door slammed. Heels clattered down the stairs.
    Inga went into the room and wearily sank down on the sofa.
    “I never would have thought that such things could happen”, she whispered .
    The tomcat, who recently had a hearty lunch with a piece of a beef tenderloin, has already managed to settle down on his favorite armchair, and even doze off. After hearing Inga's voice, he raised his head, stretched lazily and murmured:
    “You haven’t seen the life, my girl, but in the life not only such things could happen. Here, I remember, once, some minister ...”
     He was interrupted by a heart-rending scream outside the window.
      “I just want this cat!!! I want it, I said! What don't you understand? Aaaaaaaa, I just want this cat!!!”
    A minute later there were clatters on the stairs. After this someone thumped with his whole body against the door, fists tapped softly on the upholstery of the door, and a loud childish scream was heard:
     “Sell me the cat!!! Sell your cat, toad!!! Saleaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!!”
    Inga was stunned silent, looking first at the tomcat, then in the direction of the front door thumping like a drum under the blows of the boy.
    The tomcat stretched again.
    “Let me go to him. For a day,” said he.
    “Are you sure?”
    The tomcat nodded lazily.
    “Ok. But, note that he just a child. Very spoiled child, but anyway, so, please, just without that your favorites tricks.”
    “You know me pretty well my girl,” the tomcat widely yawned, showing his sharp white teeth. “I haven't used such methods in a long time. I'll just want to have a heart-to-heart talk with this screamy nasty boy.”
   “And do you think this one will understand?”
    The cat chuckled.
    “Not only such persons got rain on their parade. I remember, once, some king's son...”
    “Maybe you can tell me about this some other time?” Inga interrupted the tomcat, because she knew that if he starts telling his stories, then it will be for a long time, but this time she did not have time and desire to listen.
    The tomcat chuckled angrily.
    “Well, well. As you wish. But when you will ask me to tell you this story, I’ll be silent like a fish.”
   Inga began to gently scratch the tomcat behind his ears.
    “Please, don't be angry, now isn’t the time. Do you hear how he rushes on the door?”
    “Ooook, I forgive you,” murmured softened from caresses the tomcat. “Go now, and I'll watch from here.”
Before Inga had time to click the lock, the boy, speeding up to strike, pushed the door, flew headlong into the locker in the hallway. There was a new howl, turning into a squeal, and the boy immediately jumped out the apartment. Finally, Inga saw her "offender". On the landing, smearing tears and snot all over his face and still contriving to make a sound like the squeal of a small puppy, stood a pale, pointed-nosed boy of about seven years old. Seeing through the open door the tomcat, who was lying on an armchair in the back of the room, the boy again howled and yelled, demanding an inaccessible "toy", but he no longer dared to break into the apartment.
     A minute later the mother of the howling boy appeared. This time, ignoring her son's hysterical cries, she asked:
    “So, did you thought about selling us your cat?”
   “Let's do this,” said Inga. “I'll give you a cat for one day. If you’ll want to keep him after that, we'll talk about the price. You agree?”
    Seeing a nod in response, Inga carried the tomcat out of the room and carefully placed him on the woman's hands.
***
    The next day was a holiday. Early in the morning, when the whole neighboring buildings were still asleep, the bell insistently rang in the hallway.
    At the threshold stood the same mother with a cat in her hands. There were deep shadows under her eyes.
    “Take your cat,” said she in a hollow voice.
    “Have you changed your mind about buying him?”
    “Our child doesn't like this cat anymore,” said the woman.
    Inga took the tomcat, and the woman, without even saying goodbye, turned around and clicked her heels down the stairs.
    Inga brought the tomcat into the room, scratching him behind his ears.
   “Are you hungry?” She asked the cat. “Did they give you anything to eat?
   “You know that I don't eat in other people's houses. It's a magical law. Otherwise, I will be indebted to those who gave me food,” answered the tomcat.
   “Okay, wait, I'll be back soon,” said Inga and went to the kitchen.
 And only about half an hour later, when the full cat was lying on his favorite armchair, Inga quietly asked:
 “Well, how was the night?”
  The tomcat settled comfortably in the armchair and narrowed its yellow eyes.
  “Not bad. I had a heart-to-heart talk with the boy.”
   “And what did you say to him?”
    The tomcat lazily stretched his whole body, yawned and muttered:
    “I brought a dream to him - a nap, and then told him a fairy tale.”
    “What kind of fairy tale?”
    “How I put the guards of King Badlyer to sleep, and then scratched out the King’s envious eyes, and then tore his chest with my claws, took out his heart and eat it up.”
   “Did you just tell? And that was enough to convince such a hysterical boy?”
   “Well, well, well. Frankly speaking, I didn’t tell, but inspire,” the cat squinted slyly. “In his dream, he himself was the King Badlyer. Oh, what a night the boy arranged for his parents later!” The tomcat closed his eyes with pleasure. “Now they will leave you alone. At least for a while.” The tomcat stretched again and yawned. “And now I want to sleep.”
    “Sweet dreams,” Inga stroked his head and scratched behind his ear.
    The tomcat purred gratefully, curled up in a ball and closed his eyes. Inga quietly left the room and closed the door on the latch.
    When the tomcat from the ancient tribe of Bayun’s lives in the house, caution doesn’t hurt.

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In east Slavic folklore the Bayun tomcat was a cannibal tomcat with a magical voice. His voice was hypnotic and curative, but most of the time Bayun lulled knights or merchants with his tales and songs and then killed them. Tomcat Bayun could be caught if a person had wear iron gloves and an iron hat. After his defeat, Bayun served the person who defeated him. Also, Bayun, who was considered as a magical tomcat, time to time turned in usual size tomcat and lived in this guise with a woman who had magical abilities.