--- title: Just So Stories, The Cat that Walked by Himself, part 1: the First Friend and the First Servant — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Just So Stories, The Cat that Walked by Himself, part 1: the First Friend and the First Servant», a lesson of the books course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Long ago all the tame animals were wild: Dog, Horse, Cow, Sheep and Pig walk --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/93-justso-cat-1-the-first-friend-and-the-first-servant/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Books](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/) / Just So Stories, The Cat that Walked b… # Just So Stories, The Cat that Walked by Himself, part 1: the First Friend and the First Servant Lesson 93 of the books course of Mova's primary school: 23 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/books/93-justso-cat-1-the-first-friend-and-the-first-servant/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/93-justso-cat-1-the-first-friend-and-the-first-servant/0/) — Long ago all the tame animals were wild: Dog, Horse, Cow, Sheep and Pig walked in the Wet Wild Woods, and the wildest of all was the Cat, who walked by himself, and all places were alike to him. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/93-justso-cat-1-the-first-friend-and-the-first-servant/1/) — The Man was wild too, until the Woman made a home: a dry Cave, clean sand on the floor, a fire at the back and a horse-skin curtain over the door. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/93-justso-cat-1-the-first-friend-and-the-first-servant/2/) — After a fine supper the Woman looks at a mutton blade-bone and makes the First Singing Magic. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/93-justso-cat-1-the-first-friend-and-the-first-servant/3/) — The wild animals see the fire and wonder. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/93-justso-cat-1-the-first-friend-and-the-first-servant/4/) — Wild Dog smells roast mutton and goes to look; the Cat says «Nenni!», he will not come, but he follows secretly and hides where he can hear everything. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/93-justso-cat-1-the-first-friend-and-the-first-servant/5/) — The Woman throws Wild Dog a roast bone, and he wants more. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/93-justso-cat-1-the-first-friend-and-the-first-servant/6/) — She offers him as many bones as he needs if he helps the Man hunt by day and guards the Cave at night. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/93-justso-cat-1-the-first-friend-and-the-first-servant/7/) — He agrees and lays his head in her lap. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/93-justso-cat-1-the-first-friend-and-the-first-servant/8/) — He is no longer Wild Dog but the First Friend. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/93-justso-cat-1-the-first-friend-and-the-first-servant/9/) — Next night the Woman dries sweet grass, plaits a halter and makes the Second Singing Magic. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/93-justso-cat-1-the-first-friend-and-the-first-servant/10/) — Wild Horse comes for the grass, bends his head for the halter and becomes the First Servant, to carry them from place to place. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/93-justso-cat-1-the-first-friend-and-the-first-servant/11/) — Each time the Cat listens, says the animal is foolish, walks home by his wild lone, and tells nobody. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/93-justso-cat-1-the-first-friend-and-the-first-servant/12/) — «He walked by himself, and all places were alike to him» is said of the Cat again and again, like a chorus. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/93-justso-cat-1-the-first-friend-and-the-first-servant/14/) — The Woman «picked out a nice dry Cave, instead of a heap of wet leaves», strewed clean sand, lit a fire and hung «a dried wild-horse skin, tail-down», saying «Wipe you feet, dear, when you come in, and now we'll keep house.» - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/93-justso-cat-1-the-first-friend-and-the-first-servant/15/) — Supper: wild sheep roasted on hot stones, wild duck stuffed with wild rice, marrow-bones of wild oxen, wild cherries and grenadillas. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/93-justso-cat-1-the-first-friend-and-the-first-servant/18/) — I will not come.» - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/93-justso-cat-1-the-first-friend-and-the-first-servant/19/) — Wild Dog calls her «O my Enemy and Wife of my Enemy»; after the bone he says «O my Friend and Wife of my Friend». - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/93-justso-cat-1-the-first-friend-and-the-first-servant/20/) — The bargain: «help my Man to hunt through the day and guard this Cave at night, and I will give you as many roast bones as you need.» The Woman names him «the First Friend». - [23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/93-justso-cat-1-the-first-friend-and-the-first-servant/23/) — The Cat each time: «This is a very wise Woman, but she is not so wise as I am» and «That is a very foolish Dog» (or Horse). - [25](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/93-justso-cat-1-the-first-friend-and-the-first-servant/25/) — Real life: dogs were the first animals people tamed, from wolves, at least 15,000 years ago, while people were still hunters, long before farming. - [26](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/93-justso-cat-1-the-first-friend-and-the-first-servant/26/) — Real life: horses were tamed much later, about 5,500 years ago on the grasslands of Central Asia, after cows, sheep, goats and pigs, which were tamed about 10,000 years ago; Kipling's order, Dog then Horse then Cow, is not the real one. - [27](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/93-justso-cat-1-the-first-friend-and-the-first-servant/27/) — Real life: reading marks on shoulder blades to tell the future was a real old custom in many lands; in ancient China such «oracle bones» carry some of the oldest Chinese writing. - [28](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/93-justso-cat-1-the-first-friend-and-the-first-servant/28/) — The magic itself did not work. - ← previous: [Just So Stories, The Crab that Played with the Sea, part 3: the Moon pulls the sea, and how tides really work](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/92-justso-crab-3-the-moon-pulls-the-sea/) - next →: [Just So Stories, The Cat that Walked by Himself, part 2: the bargain, the Bat and the Baby](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/94-justso-cat-2-a-bargain-and-a-baby/) - ↑ back to [Books](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/)