The White Cat (fairy tale) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The White Cat
The young prince and the White Cat. Illustration from 1908.
Folk tale
Name	The White Cat
Data
Aarne–Thompson grouping	ATU 402 (The Animal Bride)
Region	France
Published in	Contes Nouveaux ou Les Fées à la Mode (1698), by Madame d'Aulnoy
Related	The Frog Princess; Puddocky; The Three Feathers

The White Cat (which is La Chatte Blanche in French) is a famous French fairytale. It was written by Madame d'Aulnoy and first published in 1698. This story was also included in The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang.

This tale is known as Aarne–Thompson type 402, "The Animal Bride." It also has parts that are similar to type 310, "The Maiden in the Tower," like the story of Rapunzel.

The Story of The White Cat

The King's Challenge

Once upon a time, there was a king who worried about losing his throne. He had three sons. To keep them busy, he gave them a challenge. He told them to find the smallest and most beautiful dog. The one who succeeded would become the next king. They had one year to complete this task.

The Youngest Prince's Journey

The three princes went their separate ways. The youngest prince traveled far. He looked for tiny dogs everywhere. One day, he found a beautiful castle hidden in the woods. This castle was full of smart, talking cats! Their queen was a lovely white cat. She invited the prince to dinner. He was surprised to see she wore a locket. Inside was a picture that looked just like him.

The prince stayed at the white cat's castle for almost a year. He had a wonderful time. When the year was nearly over, the white cat reminded him of his task. She gave him an acorn. She told him the dog was inside. He returned home and opened the acorn. Inside was an incredibly tiny dog. It danced for the king, and everyone was amazed.

The Second Task

Even though the youngest prince clearly won, the king gave them another task. This time, they had to find a piece of muslin cloth. It had to be so fine that it could pass through the eye of a needle. His older brothers started searching again. But the youngest prince went straight back to the white cat's castle.

He spent another year there, enjoying himself. At the end of the year, the white cat sent him home. She gave him a fancy escort and a golden carriage. She also gave him a walnut. The older brothers brought muslin that fit through a large needle. The youngest prince opened his walnut. Inside was a hazelnut seed, then smaller and smaller seeds. The smallest seed held a huge amount of beautifully embroidered muslin. It could fit through any needle!

The Final Challenge

The king set a third and final task. He said whoever could find the most beautiful princess to marry would be king. The youngest prince returned to the white cat's castle once more. She promised to help him win this contest too. For the next year, he tried to guess her secret. But she would not tell him who she really was.

The White Cat's Secret

At the end of the year, the white cat told him something shocking. She said she could give him a beautiful princess. But first, he had to cut off her head. The prince was very sad. He loved the white cat and did not want to hurt her. But finally, he had to do as she asked.

When he cut off her head, a beautiful woman appeared from the cat's body! All the cat courtiers around them also turned into humans.

The princess then explained her past. Her mother was a queen. Before the princess was born, her mother promised her to fairies in exchange for magical fruit. The fairies raised her in a tall tower. No one could enter except through a high window. The fairies wanted her to marry an ugly fairy king. But she fell in love with a human king who passed by her tower. They planned to escape together.

However, the fairies caught the human king in her tower room. They killed him. Then, they turned her and all the people of her kingdom into cats. She could only be free if she found a man who looked exactly like her dead lover. The youngest prince was that man!

A Triple Wedding

The prince and the former white cat traveled to the prince's kingdom. She was far more beautiful than his older brothers' brides. The former white cat was actually a queen who ruled over six kingdoms! She gave one kingdom each to the prince's father and his older brothers. This left her and the youngest prince with three kingdoms to rule. They celebrated a grand triple wedding.

Other Versions of the Story

Many different versions of "The White Cat" exist around the world. These are called "variants."

• Rachel Harriette Busk collected a version from Tirol called The Grave Prince and the Beneficent Cat. It is very similar to Madame d'Aulnoy's tale.
• A Danish version, Peter Humbug and the White Cat, was translated from the work of Svend Grundtvig.
• American editor Horace Scudder wrote a shorter version of Madame d'Aulnoy's tale. It was in his book The Book of Fables and Folk Stories.
• In a Latvian fairy tale called The Palace of Cats, a lord has three sons. The youngest is a simpleton. To decide who gets his property, the lord asks them to find the most beautiful kerchief, wedding dress, and bride. The simpleton succeeds because he finds a palace of cats in the forest. The leader is a white cat, who is an enchanted princess. She was cursed into cat form.

Story Adaptations

Sometimes, old stories are changed into new forms like TV shows or movies. These are called "adaptations."

• A Hungarian version of the tale was made into an episode of the Hungarian TV series Magyar népmesék ("Hungarian Folk Tales"). The episode was called A macskacicó ("The Pussycat Princess").