The Story Of The Spotted Cat And The Swallow Sinha

This fable was created by the Brazilian writer Jorge Amado. As in most fables, the main characters are animals that have acquired human characteristics. The intention with this type of story is almost always that it should end with a moral lesson. They have a didactic function and they also question certain aspects of human behavior.

The main characters face challenges under unequal circumstances. From a social perspective, for example, the story may be about a rich person and a person from the working class. Due to an unforeseen event, the situation is turned upside down.

The spotted cat

This story of the spotted cat and swallow Sinha takes place in a park filled with different species of trees and animals. When it takes place, we see that the weather with its seasons creates an atmosphere that affects the main characters’ mood.

Amado describes the spotted cat as something to the years and far from his youth. And he continues: “In that part of the world there was no animal that was more selfish and lonely. He had no friendly relations with his neighbors and almost never responded to compliments that strangers said to him out of fear rather than out of consideration.

When spring arrived with its beautiful colors, aromas and beautiful melodies, the cat was suddenly awakened. Its presence was so strong that it woke him from his slumber. He opened his eyes and stretched out his arms ”.

The cat then felt a sense of optimism. “He felt light, he wanted to say nice things, go out without a goal and even talk to someone. He looked again but he did not see anyone. Everyone had fled. But on a branch of a tree, the swallow Sinha sat and sang and smiled when she saw the spotted cat. At the same time, all the other inhabitants of the park watched the swallow Sinha with fear. ”

Svalan Sinha

Jorge Amado tells us about the other main character: “When she walked by, smiling and flirting, there was no other bird that did not give a light sigh. She was still very young, but no matter where she was, all the other birds tried to approach her.

She laughed with them, she got along well with them, but she did not love anyone. Without caring about anything in the world, she could fly from tree to tree through the forest. Curious, talkative and kind-hearted. There was no other swallow as beautiful or kind as the swallow Sinha ”.

The swallow had a conversation with the cat where she even insulted him, a fact that the other inhabitants of the park saw as a death sentence for the bird. Her parents had forbidden her to have anything to do with cats because they hunted birds. But she did not care about this and talked to him.

That night the swallow laid her little head on a rose that was her pillow. She had decided that she would continue her conversation with the cat the next day. He is ugly, but kind, she mumbled and fell asleep. The spotted cat also thought of the unfriendly swallow Sinha. But there was one thing he did not have: a pillow. In addition to being mean and ugly, the spotted cat was also poor and rested its head on its arms. “

The cat’s disease

The cat was very tired, so much so that he thought he was sick. Then he noticed that he had a fever and went to the lake to find water to cool off. And there in the water he saw the swallow’s reflection that looked at him: “And he recognized her in every leaf, in every drop of water, in every ray of sunshine, in every shadow during the night. When he finally managed to fall asleep, he dreamed of the swallow; and it was the first time he had had a dream in many years. ”

The cat did not notice that he had fallen in love. He did not understand his feelings. When he was young, he had fallen in love many times, practically every week, but he did not think much about these feelings. In fact, he had broken many hearts. When he woke up, he remembered that he had been dreaming about the swallow all night, but he decided not to think about it anymore.

In the spring, however, he continued to visit swallow Sinha to talk to her and they always had something to talk about. Soon they started taking walks in the park. He walked on the fresh grass and she flew along with him. They walked around without any chosen path and commented on the color of flowers and the beauty of the world.

The cat experienced a transformation. He no longer threatened other animals, his fur no longer rose when he met a stranger, and he did not scare the dogs away. He had become a soft and friendly animal. He was the first to compliment the others in the park.

Does love have limits?

When summer was coming to an end, the cat and the swallow had dinner together. The cat could then no longer recover and said that if he had not been a cat he would have proposed to her. That night the swallow did not return. The cat tried to understand what had happened to her. He felt sad and alone and chose to go and talk to the owl.

First he talked to the owl about simple things. But this bird was very wise and understood the reason for this visit, so without waiting for his question, she began to tell him about the rumors that had been heard in the park.

Everyone disliked him and this made him furious. In the end, the owl gave him his opinion: “My old friend, there is nothing to do. How could you believe that the swallow would accept you as her husband? This would not have worked, even if she loved you. ”

Despite all this, the cat chose to visit the swallow again in the autumn. He found that she was very serious. She no longer smiled and she no longer expressed sympathy as before. The cat felt very lonely and could not hide this. The owl’s words resonated in his heart and he just managed to walk in silence with the swallow.

That night, the cat was once again the bully he had been before. He chased the black duck, he scared the parrot and he stole eggs from the hen house just to throw them away. All the inhabitants of the park spread rumors and they were afraid that the cat was evil itself.

The end

After a few days, the cat received a letter from the swallow Sinha. That letter stated that a swallow could never marry a cat and that they would not meet again.

She also wrote that she had never been as happy as during the walks with the cat. She ended the letter with a sentence that stuck in his heart: “Yours forever, Sinha”. The cat read the letter over and over until he had memorized it.

A while later, the swallow appeared without warning. She was very charming, just like in the spring. As if nothing had happened, as if all distance between them had disappeared. The cat was moved. At the end of the afternoon, he found out the truth: They were together until it got dark. Then she told him that this was the last time they would see each other and that she would marry the nightingale. Why? Because a swallow can not marry a cat.

The cat was devastated by this news. During the wedding, he could not stand this anymore and went forward to the event. The swallow, recognizing the footsteps, knew he was there and let the wind catch one of her tears to bring it to the cat’s hand.

This lit up the cat’s lonely path this starless night. The cat followed the path to the end of the world. A beautiful story that reminds us of the eternal darkness of impossible love.