"Ding-dong, ding-dong," chimed the clock in the farmer's house.
It was noon.
The farmer placed me on the dining room table and sat down with his family to have lunch.
The lunch was enough food for a hundred men in England.
The farmer's wife cut some meat into tiny pieces.
She gave them to me with some breadcrumbs and wine.
"I am very happy that you invited me to lunch,"
I said loudly enough for the farmer and his wife to hear.
"I have never seen so much food in my life."
I bowed to them and made signs to show that I was hungry.
I made other signs to thank them for the meal.
The family laughed at my performance, and I had to cover my ears to protect them from the noise.
While I was eating, I heard something that sounded like a dozen machines all running at once.
I realized that the sound came from the family's cat.
To me, it looked enormous—bigger than the biggest horse I'd ever seen back home.
It was sitting on the lap of the farmer's wife, purring loudly as she patted it.
It stared at me.
"Oh no!" I said to myself.
"It thinks I am something good to eat!"
I was terrified.
Sometimes cats are very cruel to the creatures they catch.
The farmer's wife saw that I was afraid of the cat and held it tightly.
The farmer put me right in front of the cat.
It looked away, shut its eyes, and continued to purr.
"If I show my fear," I thought, "the cat may attack.
I had better pretend that I'm not afraid."
Just then, something even more frightening happened.
The nanny brought the baby to the farmer's wife.
The farmer's wife picked me up and put me in front of the baby.
He grabbed me instantly in his little fist.
"Let me go," I shouted.
The baby put my head into his mouth.
"Help, help!" I screamed loudly.
This frightened the baby, who was not used to having things scream in his mouth.
He dropped me, but as I fell, the farmer's wife held out her apron to catch me.
I was not hurt.
"Thank you," I said to her, making another bow.
She smiled and tickled the baby.
When lunch was over, the farmer spoke to his wife as he pointed to the baby.
I understood that he was telling her not to let the baby play with me.
Then the farmer left the house to go back to work.
The excitement of the morning and the wine at lunch had made me very tired.
The farmer's wife saw me yawning and picked me up gently.
She took me to her bedroom and put me down on the bed.
Right away, I fell asleep.
When I woke up, I felt lonely on the bed so high above the floor.
Suddenly, two rats climbed onto the bed.
They were many times bigger than English rats.
I was very frightened.
They ran across the bed, wiggling their noses in my face as they sniffed.
"Be brave!" I said to myself, remembering the cat at lunch.
"I must kill them before they kill me."
Luckily, I still had my sword with me.
I pulled it out and stabbed one rat in the stomach.
It fell dead at my feet.
The other rat jumped off the bed and ran away.
Just then, the farmer's wife came into the room.
She saw the blood and picked me up.
I pointed to the dead rat and showed her that I was not hurt.
She smiled at me happily and threw the rat out the window.