This story is based on a Malayalam nursery rhyme I had learned as a child. Though I have been trying to recollect the rhyme in full for months now, I have been able to remember only 2 verses. I am sure there are people who who might know the whole rhyme. If so, you are welcome to add the missing verses in comments. Thank you!
The verses ran like this:
Pandoru dhinam, randu poochakal
Koduvannorappakashnam panku vaikkuvan
Vangabudhiyam vanaran kayyil
Sankyenniye koduthu panku vaikkuvan
(I remember only these 2 verses)
It can be roughly translated as
Once upon a time two cats
Had a treat to share.
They gave it to the monkey
Sure he would be fair!
I have built the following story from the above verses. Happy Reading!
Once upon a time there were two kittens named Mia and Pussy. They were great friends and always played together. Wherever Pussy went, Mia followed and wherever Mia went Pussy followed. Their parents were very happy about their friendship. They went around their neighbourhood singing, dancing and playing. All their neighbours loved them for they were very lovely and friendly cats.
Ms Marjari was a lovely cat who lived down the the road. She liked Pussy and Mia very much and often invited them for small treats like a piece of cake.
One day, Ms Marjari called them, as they were playing in front of their house. “Hello Pussy and Mia,” said Ms. Marjari. “Hello Ms. Marjari, How do you do?” asked Mia and Pussy in unison. “Come along, I have a surprise for you,” said Ms. Marjari. “Here we come,” said Pussy and Mia and ran inside Ms. Marjari’s house, excitedly. They were sure of getting a good treat. “Come in and sit down,” said Ms Marjari. Pussy and Mia sank in Ms Marjari’s soft as feather sofa. “Sing a song for me,” Ms Marjari told Pussy and Mia. Pussy and Mia sang a very beautiful song for Ms Marjari. Ms Marjari was very happy and said, “Thank you very much Pussy and Mia and here comes the surprise.” She brought a delicious rich chocolate cake and gave a piece to Pussy and Mia. She said, “now you both go home and share the cake. I have to go out now.”
Pussy and Mia were very happy and came out singing and dancing. They couldn’t wait to eat the cake till they reached home. So they went to the park nearby and opened the packet. “Now,” Pussy said, “I will divide the cake equally.” Mia replied, “no, no, I shall divide it equally, I am older than you.” Pussy said, “that is not fair, I shall do it, Ms Marjari gave it to me.” Mia would not agree. They continued arguing about who would divide the cake .
Atop a tree in the park, where Pussy and Mia were sitting and arguing, was a cunning Monkey called Vanar. He was all the while watching their argument. “Ah, here comes my chance of getting that lovey cake all for myself,” he said to himself.
He came down the treee and stopped near Pussy and Mia as if to find out what was happening. “Hello Pussy and Mia, what is happening? What are you arguing about?” Pussy said, “Hello Vanar, Ms Marjari gave us a cake and asked us to share it. Mia won’t allow me to cut the cake.” Mia said, “I can cut the cake evenly, but Pussy would not allow me.” The cunning Vanar said, “don’t worry my friends, now that I am here I will cut the cake into two equal parts and give to you.” Both Pussy and Mia agreed to this and gave the cake to Vanar. Vanar took the cake and bit it into two parts and told Pussy and Mia to take one piece each. But Pussy and Mia were not happy as one piece was big and the other was small. Vanar said, “don’t worry, I shall make them equal.” He bit into the bigger piece and swallowed a piece and kept the other piece near the other piece and said, now they are equal. Pussy and Mia found that the new piece was smaller and the earlier piece was bigger. “Don’t worry friends,” said Vanar, “I shall make them equal.” He took the bigger piece and bit into it making it smaller and eating a piece himself. “Now they are equal, you can have one piece each,” he said. Pussy and Mia found that again they were of unequal size. “I shall make them equal,” said Vanar again and bit into the bigger piece. This continued until there was only a small piece left. Pussy and Mia were very sad that they were not getting any cake and Vanar was enjoying their cake. They said, “please give the cake piece back to us, we will divide it ourselves.” The wicked Vanar said, “what reward am I getting for spending all my time dividing your cake? So this piece of cake shall be my reward.” So saying, he gulped the remaining piece of cake and jumped up the nearest tree and hopped away merrily. Both Pussy and Mia were very sad and started crying.
Who should come there then but Ms Marjari. Seeing both Pussy and Mia in tears, Ms Marjari asked them why they were crying. Pussy and Mia told Ms Marjari about their fight and how Vanar ate the whole cake. Ms Marjari told them, “Mia and Pussy, you are good friends. Good friends never fight. You should have divided the cake yourselves and enjoyed it. Fighting over the cake you lost your cake. And never trust a stranger. Now don’t cry, come along, I shall give you both a piece of cake.” Ms Marjari gave them both a piece of cake each and they thanked Ms Marjari and promised that they would never fight again.
Kathai Kathaiyam Karanamam 