The Tailless Cat of the Milk Bargain

Overview

An old woman keeps a goat and stores its milk in a cupboard. A cat repeatedly drinks the milk. When the woman catches her, she cuts off the cat’s tail and makes its return conditional on replacing the milk. The cat can speak and negotiates with animals, people and even a tree and a threshing-floor. The tale gives her no personal name, breed, fur colour or unusual anatomy apart from the eventual absence of her tail.

The exchanges form a cumulative chain. The goat wants branches before giving milk; the tree wants water; the water-carrier wants shoes; the shoemaker wants an egg; and the hen wants barley. At the threshing-floor the cat is allowed to gather grain left for birds and ants. She then works backwards through the chain until she obtains the milk and takes it to the old woman. Each participant has a different need, and the repetitive structure makes the labour of restitution central to the story.

The woman returns the tail, but the cat’s repeated attempts to reattach it fail, leaving her tailless at the ending. The printed moral frames this as a lasting mark of wrongdoing and links obtaining valuable things with labour. An original footnote calls the story a nursery tale and describes its telling at bedtime; that is the publication’s account, rather than a verified description of every Armenian household. This is the particular cat in Seklemian’s historical English version, not an origin claim for a real tailless breed. A quiet illustration of the final state does not need to show the punishment itself.

Origins & earliest records

The Old Woman and the Cat, original pp213–215, chaptert28, including original nursery-tale footnote and printed moral.

Records & interpretation

Complete originalt28 container, pp213–215, nursery subtitle, final moral and attached footnote read. Whole original introduction and storyteller address read.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

1. 01

   The Golden Maiden and Other Folk Tales and Fairy Stories Told in Armenia

   A.G.Seklemian · 1898

   The Old Woman and the Cat, original pp213–215, chaptert28, including original nursery-tale footnote and printed moral.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

1. Historical English folklore collectionSeklemian1898 original English collection: complete selected tale and original framingResearch access: 2026-10-21

Image credits

AI interpretation of The Tailless Cat of the Milk Bargain.

Taillessness is sourced. Adult cat form, fur colour, face, pose and an uninjured-looking final study are interpretation. No real breed or biological explanation asserted.