Page 16 - English Expedition Class 2

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room. It halted right in front of the closet. Suddenly, there was a sound of struggling
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and a roar. Then a huge thud shook the floor. There was a soft padding sound and
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then silence. Joji lay trembling in the dark. He stayed there for hours, afraid to look
out of the closet.
At last, daylight showed at the edge of the door. Joji carefully slid the door open and

peered out. In the middle of the room lay a monster rat as big as a cow! It lay dead
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as if something had smashed it to the floor. Joji looked around the room. Nothing else
was there except the screens with the cats. Then Joji looked again at the gigantic cat

that he had drawn.
‘Didn’t I draw the head to the left and the tail to the right?’ he thought.
Yes, he was sure of it. But now the cat faced the other way as if it had come down
off the screen and then gone back up.
‘The cat!’ said Joji. His eyes grew wide. Then he pressed his palms together and

bowed to the screen.
‘Thank you, honourable cat. You have saved me. For as long as I live, no one can
stop me from drawing cats.’

When the villagers learnt that the monster rat was dead, Joji became a hero.
The village priest let him live in the temple as long as he liked.
But Joji did not become a priest. Nor did he become a farmer. He became a great
artist who drew just one thing.
Cats.

A Japanese folk tale retold by Aaron Shepard

9 halted: stopped 11 trembling: shaking with fear
10 padding: walking with quiet steps 12 peered: looked carefully
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