A story which shows that strength of character, and belief in the good in everything is above all else The old fisherman had a good dog, Boley, and an evil black cat, Sershina. "Master, this cat will be our undoing! Let's drive her away! Black cat, evil cat!" yelped Boley "Don't say that! You'll see that Serzhina will change and become good!" answered the old fisherman...

Excerpt:

There once lived an old man on the shore of a beautiful sea. All day he wove nets and caught fish. There were so many that the old fisherman shared them with his animals. He had a nice dog and an evil black cat. The dog was called Boley and the cat was called Serzhina.
“Boley!” shouted the old man to his dog and it came at once.
“Boley, bring me some water because I’m thirsty!”
The dog dashed away and in a little while came back with the water.
“Here’s a fish for you,” the old man said as he stroked him.
“Serzhina!”shouted the old fisherman to his cat this time, but Serzhina didn’t appear.
“Serzhina! Serzhina!” he shouted again, but again nothing happened.
“Serzhina, do you want a fish?!”
As soon as the old man said these words, the cat jumped from the roof and mewled around his legs with a phony purr.
“I want a fish. Meow, meow…”
“Here is your fish. Now bring me my hat, because I’m getting hot.”
The cat took the fish and then jumped on the hat rack and brought the old fisherman the hat.
“Black cat, evil cat,” yelped the dog.
“Don’t say that!” the old man scolded him.
The next day the old fisherman got sick. He had a high temperature and couldn’t get out of bed.
“Boley, bring me a pill from the cabinet,” he said.
The dog tried to jump on the cabinet where the pills were, but he couldn’t reach it.
“Serzhina!”called the old man, but the cat didn’t appear.
“Serzhina! Serzhina!” he shouted again, but again nothing happened.
“Serzhina, do you want a fish?!”
As soon as the old man said these words, the cat jumped from the roof and mewled,
“Meow, meow…I want a fish.”
“Serzhina, I can’t go fishing today because I’m sick. When I get better, there’ll be enough for everyone. Hurry, Serzhina, bring me the pill from the cabinet.”
The cat jumped on the cabinet, but instead of bringing the pill to the old man she purred again,
“I want a fish. Meow, meow…”
“Serzhina, please, bring me the pill; otherwise, I won’t be able to get up,” sadly repeated the old man, but the cat didn’t budge.