ll, the great wealth he had in the plains of Rome and Lombardy,
which well entitled him to marry even into the family of a crowned
King. Then the King asked what might be his fortune; and the cat
replied that no one could ever count the moveables, the fixtures, and
the household furniture of this rich man, who did not even know what he
possessed. If the King wished to be informed of it, he had only to send
messengers with the cat, and she would prove to him that there was no
wealth in the world equal to his.

Then the King called some trusty persons, and commanded them to inform
themselves minutely of the truth; so they followed in the footsteps of
the cat, who, as soon as they had passed the frontier of the kingdom,
from time to time ran on before, under the pretext of providing
refreshments for them on the road. Whenever she met a flock of sheep, a
herd of cows, a troop of horses, or a drove of pigs, she would say to
the herdsmen and keepers, "Ho! have a care! A troop of robbers is
coming to carry off everything in the country. So if you wish to escape
their fury, and to have your things respected, say that they all belong
to the Lord Pippo, and not a hair will be touched."

She said the same at all the farmhouses, so that wherever the King's
people came they found the pipe tuned; for everything they met with,
they were told, belonged to the Lord Pippo. At last they were tired of
asking, and returned to the King, telling seas and mountains of the
riches of Lord Pippo. The King, hearing this report, promised the cat a
good drink if she should manage to bring about the match; and the cat,
playing the shuttle between them, at last concluded the marriage. So
Pippo came, and the King gave him his daughter and a large portion.

At the end of a month of festivities, Pippo wished to take his bride to
his estates, so the King accompanied them as far as the frontiers; and
he went on to Lombardy, where, by the cat's advice, he purchased a
large estate and became a baron.

Pippo, seeing himself now so rich, thanked the cat more than words can
express, saying that he owed his life and his greatness to her good
offices; and that the ingenuity of a cat had done more for him that the
wit of his father. Therefore, said he, she might dispose of his life
and his property as she pleased; and he gave her his word that when she
died, which he prayed might not be for a hundred years, he would have
her embalmed and put into a golden coffi