The Cat Who Judged the Fish

Two otters working together caught a large fish from the river, but the moment it was theirs, they began to argue over how to split it fairly. Neither trusted the other to divide it evenly, and their quarrel grew louder by the minute.

A cat happened to be passing and, hearing the commotion, offered gently to settle the dispute for them. Relieved, both otters agreed at once and handed over the fish.

The cat placed the fish on a rock and cut it into two pieces — one visibly larger than the other. "Unfair!" cried the otter with the smaller piece. The cat calmly bit a chunk off the larger piece to "even things out" — but bit too much, making that one too small instead. Back and forth it went, the cat nibbling a little more each time to "fix" the balance, until almost nothing remained of the fish at all — every last bite of it having gone quietly into the cat's own stomach.