Question
Why the Cat Always Lands on Its Feet
A gentle magician was traveling in a forest. He’d been traveling forever, it seemed. So when he spotted a tree with gnarled roots, he had to lie down among them to rest. He had just snuggled in and closed his weary eyes when a great serpent slithered out of a thicket. Had the magician noticed the snake in the undergrowth, he would have turned it into a harmless stick.
When the snake saw the sleeping man at the foot of the tree, it coiled in anger. “I will kill him!” it hissed. The snake recalled that this was the very man who had surprised it sometime earlier, just when the snake was about to dine on a tabby cat for breakfast. “Flee for your life!” the magician had cried, and the cat had scrambled up a tree just in time.
The serpent slithered closer now. It hissed its war cry as it remembered the magician’s meddling. “You will be my breakfast,” the deadly troublemaker spat, its forked tongue testing the air for a sniff of its sleeping quarry. “And when I swallow you down, you will be sorry you ever interfered.”
Now, it just so happened that the same breakfast cat had noticed the conflict from the branches high above the sleeping magician. “Arrrr,” she snarled, her little body quivering in fright when she heard the serpent’s hiss. She was slight compared to the enormous serpent. But as she watched the evil one glide toward the man, the memory of the magician’s kindness to her transformed her fear to anger. That snake would pay for preying on helpless victims! The tabby sprang for the coiled serpent like a bolt of striped lightning!
Flames shot from the serpent’s eyes as it struck wildly again and again. But the tiny cat clawed and bit with such passion that the creature soon lay dead.
The magician awoke with the snake’s dying hiss. He found the injured cat lying nearby and guessed what she had done. “Little cat,” he said, “in honor of your bravery you shall always have a home with man. And because you leaped from the high tree to kill the deadly serpent, you shall leap where you wish and always land upon your feet.”
The First Flying Squirrel
Flynn was a curious but lonely young squirrel. Day after day, tail twitching, he would scurry up and down the woodland trees, inspecting each branch in the hopes of encountering new friends. Occasionally, his curiosity paid off and he’d meet some fascinating creature. There was the caterpillar who transformed into a flitting butterfly and the bumble bee that bobbed along. Most of all, though, Flynn enjoyed the birds. He liked watching them, but he loved chasing them more.
At first the birds tolerated Flynn’s shenanigans by hopping from branch to branch, staying just out of his reach as he leaped to and fro. Eventually, though, they’d weary of his pranks and soar to another tree. Flynn would watch the birds as their wings carried them with ease. He felt exhilarated but frustrated. The sight of the birds flying from tree to tree brought him great joy, but he was always left wishing that he, too, could fly.
One day, while Flynn was watching a wasp winging toward its nest, he heard an unusual rustling on the ground below. After a few moments, a crooked old lady appeared from the nearby bushes whistling a mystical tune. She seemed to be gathering herbs and berries in a tiny basket and as she approached the base of the tree, Flynn scuttled down the trunk. It had been a long time since he had seen humans in the forest!
As he approached, the old lady glanced up. To Flynn’s surprise, she began speaking to him in a language he could understand. This was no ordinary human!
“Would you be willing to do me a favor?” the lady inquired, her voice as enchanting and melodious as a red bird’s song. Flynn was captivated by the charming sound.
“Why, yes,” Flynn replied, wondering what he, a lowly squirrel, could ever do for her. “How may I help?”
“I am making a special soup that requires young acorns,” she said, “but I’m no spring chicken. My bones are brittle, and I am no longer nimble enough to climb trees.”
“You could wait for the acorns to get heavy enough to fall,” suggested Flynn, eager to be helpful.
“I could, that is true,” agreed the lady, “but by then the acorns won’t be fresh anymore.”
“I didn’t think of that,” replied Flynn, ashamed of his ignorance.
“No matter. If you comply,” the woman said, “I will grant you one wish as a reward.”
At that Flynn did not hesitate and eagerly climbed the tree. He picked several acorns and showered them down around her.
“Now,” the lady said when he had rejoined her on the ground, “what do you wish for a reward?”
Flynn whisked his tail from side to side as he gazed at the tree tops. The butterflies flitted from leaf to leaf as the bees and wasps droned among the blossoms. And, of course, the birds chattered as they swooped this way and that. “I would like to follow the birds from tree to tree!” Flynn announced at last.
“So be it,” said the lady and bustled to her cabin with Flynn close behind. “But your wish will last forever, so you must consider it from all sides.”
Flynn stayed outside while the woman went in to make her magical soup. A yellow butterfly drifted by on wings light as air. He could wish for wings like that. But they were so large compared to the butterfly’s body. Large wings would get in his way.
Flynn noticed a bumble bee emerging from the neck of a flower and slowly buzzing to the next. Flying like a bee would never do. He wanted to go faster, not bumble along.
Again, birds glided by, their wings lifting them effortlessly on the wind. Flynn sighed. Bird wings would never work. He was too heavy and would crash to the ground.
Flynn could hear the old lady banging pans and lighting her fire inside. Then he saw his cousin the bat swooping from her chimney, disturbed by the smoke drifting out. “That’s it! That’s what I want!” cried Flynn, observing the web of skin joining the bat’s wings to its body.
“So be it,” the old lady repeated, sticking her head out of her window. A little later, she came outside and handed him a tiny cup of soup. “Drink it down,” she said, “and tomorrow, when you awake, you will have your wish.” Flynn took the cup and downed the entire cup with one big gulp.
“Thank you!” he called, racing away.
The next morning when Flynn awoke, he gingerly stretched his front legs and there was webbing just as he’d wished! Flynn spotted some birds and raced after them hopping from branch to branch. This time, when the birds flew to another tree, he was able to glide after them. At last, he could soar! And that is how flying squirrels came to be.
Question
The stories “Why the Cat Always Lands on Its Feet” and “The First Flying Squirrel” deal with the topic of helping others.
Which statement best describes how these two stories approach the topic?
Responses
Both stories include animals helping people.
Both stories include animals helping people.
Both stories describe lessons people learn from helping animals.
Both stories describe lessons people learn from helping animals.
In both stories, animals work together to help each other.
In both stories, animals work together to help each other.
In both stories, people do not want to help animals until the animals help them.
In both stories, people do not want to help animals until the animals help them.
A gentle magician was traveling in a forest. He’d been traveling forever, it seemed. So when he spotted a tree with gnarled roots, he had to lie down among them to rest. He had just snuggled in and closed his weary eyes when a great serpent slithered out of a thicket. Had the magician noticed the snake in the undergrowth, he would have turned it into a harmless stick.
When the snake saw the sleeping man at the foot of the tree, it coiled in anger. “I will kill him!” it hissed. The snake recalled that this was the very man who had surprised it sometime earlier, just when the snake was about to dine on a tabby cat for breakfast. “Flee for your life!” the magician had cried, and the cat had scrambled up a tree just in time.
The serpent slithered closer now. It hissed its war cry as it remembered the magician’s meddling. “You will be my breakfast,” the deadly troublemaker spat, its forked tongue testing the air for a sniff of its sleeping quarry. “And when I swallow you down, you will be sorry you ever interfered.”
Now, it just so happened that the same breakfast cat had noticed the conflict from the branches high above the sleeping magician. “Arrrr,” she snarled, her little body quivering in fright when she heard the serpent’s hiss. She was slight compared to the enormous serpent. But as she watched the evil one glide toward the man, the memory of the magician’s kindness to her transformed her fear to anger. That snake would pay for preying on helpless victims! The tabby sprang for the coiled serpent like a bolt of striped lightning!
Flames shot from the serpent’s eyes as it struck wildly again and again. But the tiny cat clawed and bit with such passion that the creature soon lay dead.
The magician awoke with the snake’s dying hiss. He found the injured cat lying nearby and guessed what she had done. “Little cat,” he said, “in honor of your bravery you shall always have a home with man. And because you leaped from the high tree to kill the deadly serpent, you shall leap where you wish and always land upon your feet.”
The First Flying Squirrel
Flynn was a curious but lonely young squirrel. Day after day, tail twitching, he would scurry up and down the woodland trees, inspecting each branch in the hopes of encountering new friends. Occasionally, his curiosity paid off and he’d meet some fascinating creature. There was the caterpillar who transformed into a flitting butterfly and the bumble bee that bobbed along. Most of all, though, Flynn enjoyed the birds. He liked watching them, but he loved chasing them more.
At first the birds tolerated Flynn’s shenanigans by hopping from branch to branch, staying just out of his reach as he leaped to and fro. Eventually, though, they’d weary of his pranks and soar to another tree. Flynn would watch the birds as their wings carried them with ease. He felt exhilarated but frustrated. The sight of the birds flying from tree to tree brought him great joy, but he was always left wishing that he, too, could fly.
One day, while Flynn was watching a wasp winging toward its nest, he heard an unusual rustling on the ground below. After a few moments, a crooked old lady appeared from the nearby bushes whistling a mystical tune. She seemed to be gathering herbs and berries in a tiny basket and as she approached the base of the tree, Flynn scuttled down the trunk. It had been a long time since he had seen humans in the forest!
As he approached, the old lady glanced up. To Flynn’s surprise, she began speaking to him in a language he could understand. This was no ordinary human!
“Would you be willing to do me a favor?” the lady inquired, her voice as enchanting and melodious as a red bird’s song. Flynn was captivated by the charming sound.
“Why, yes,” Flynn replied, wondering what he, a lowly squirrel, could ever do for her. “How may I help?”
“I am making a special soup that requires young acorns,” she said, “but I’m no spring chicken. My bones are brittle, and I am no longer nimble enough to climb trees.”
“You could wait for the acorns to get heavy enough to fall,” suggested Flynn, eager to be helpful.
“I could, that is true,” agreed the lady, “but by then the acorns won’t be fresh anymore.”
“I didn’t think of that,” replied Flynn, ashamed of his ignorance.
“No matter. If you comply,” the woman said, “I will grant you one wish as a reward.”
At that Flynn did not hesitate and eagerly climbed the tree. He picked several acorns and showered them down around her.
“Now,” the lady said when he had rejoined her on the ground, “what do you wish for a reward?”
Flynn whisked his tail from side to side as he gazed at the tree tops. The butterflies flitted from leaf to leaf as the bees and wasps droned among the blossoms. And, of course, the birds chattered as they swooped this way and that. “I would like to follow the birds from tree to tree!” Flynn announced at last.
“So be it,” said the lady and bustled to her cabin with Flynn close behind. “But your wish will last forever, so you must consider it from all sides.”
Flynn stayed outside while the woman went in to make her magical soup. A yellow butterfly drifted by on wings light as air. He could wish for wings like that. But they were so large compared to the butterfly’s body. Large wings would get in his way.
Flynn noticed a bumble bee emerging from the neck of a flower and slowly buzzing to the next. Flying like a bee would never do. He wanted to go faster, not bumble along.
Again, birds glided by, their wings lifting them effortlessly on the wind. Flynn sighed. Bird wings would never work. He was too heavy and would crash to the ground.
Flynn could hear the old lady banging pans and lighting her fire inside. Then he saw his cousin the bat swooping from her chimney, disturbed by the smoke drifting out. “That’s it! That’s what I want!” cried Flynn, observing the web of skin joining the bat’s wings to its body.
“So be it,” the old lady repeated, sticking her head out of her window. A little later, she came outside and handed him a tiny cup of soup. “Drink it down,” she said, “and tomorrow, when you awake, you will have your wish.” Flynn took the cup and downed the entire cup with one big gulp.
“Thank you!” he called, racing away.
The next morning when Flynn awoke, he gingerly stretched his front legs and there was webbing just as he’d wished! Flynn spotted some birds and raced after them hopping from branch to branch. This time, when the birds flew to another tree, he was able to glide after them. At last, he could soar! And that is how flying squirrels came to be.
Question
The stories “Why the Cat Always Lands on Its Feet” and “The First Flying Squirrel” deal with the topic of helping others.
Which statement best describes how these two stories approach the topic?
Responses
Both stories include animals helping people.
Both stories include animals helping people.
Both stories describe lessons people learn from helping animals.
Both stories describe lessons people learn from helping animals.
In both stories, animals work together to help each other.
In both stories, animals work together to help each other.
In both stories, people do not want to help animals until the animals help them.
In both stories, people do not want to help animals until the animals help them.
Answers
GPT-4o mini
The statement that best describes how the two stories approach the topic of helping others is:
**In both stories, animals work together to help each other.**
In "Why the Cat Always Lands on Its Feet," the cat helps the magician by bravely attacking the snake, thus repaying the magician's earlier kindness of saving her. In "The First Flying Squirrel," Flynn helps the old lady by retrieving acorns for her, and in return, she grants him his wish to fly, which allows him to connect with the birds he admires. Both stories illustrate a reciprocal relationship between animals and the help they provide to each other.
**In both stories, animals work together to help each other.**
In "Why the Cat Always Lands on Its Feet," the cat helps the magician by bravely attacking the snake, thus repaying the magician's earlier kindness of saving her. In "The First Flying Squirrel," Flynn helps the old lady by retrieving acorns for her, and in return, she grants him his wish to fly, which allows him to connect with the birds he admires. Both stories illustrate a reciprocal relationship between animals and the help they provide to each other.