The white cat Sasha asked her friend Farah to go out to play in the garden adjacent to their home—a garden where she often sat on the windowsill looking at it from afar. But Farah refused Sasha’s request and said to her, “Going out is dangerous for you, especially since you’re a cat raised in a house and don’t know the ways of street cats.”
Sasha was angry and decided one morning to leave without Farah’s knowledge. She jumped from the window to the road to go to the garden, when a speeding car almost hit her, were it not for the driver pressing hard on the brakes. The car stopped near Sasha, who was very frightened and ran with great force into the garden.
Despite her initial shock, she regained her calm once again and began wandering around the garden, running and jumping, looking for cats to play with. She walked happily with the beauty and wonder of nature until she found a colorful cat standing in a corner of the garden. She jumped quickly toward her, greeting her and inviting her to play.
But the cat responded coldly, saying, “Who are you? And how did you come to my area without my permission?” Sasha was surprised by the cat’s words and told her she had fled from her home to play in the garden with the cats. The colorful cat shouted and said to Sasha, “We here don’t play because we have tasks we do, and we must provide food for ourselves and our little ones. Leave, for there is no cat in this area except me.”
Sasha was sad at her words and walked away from her, going deeper into the garden. She glimpsed a butterfly whose wings were adorned with beautiful colors and wonderful patterns. It was flying over the fountain and looking at it. Sasha asked her, “Who are you? And who are you?” The butterfly answered, “I am a gentle, delicate insect. My place is always in the garden; I move from one flower to another, transferring pollen to help them reproduce.”
Sasha was surprised and asked her again, “And why do you do that?” The butterfly replied, “It’s part of butterflies’ role in the environment and life.” Sasha asked, “And what is the environment?” The butterfly replied and said to her, “The environment is everything around you that you see—it is water, air, earth, seas, rivers, mountains, trees, plants, and flowers. All of us—I and you, animals, insects, and people—live together in that environment. And what is your role in the environment?”
Sasha was surprised by the question, for she didn’t know what her role in the environment was. She said, “My role now is to make my owner happy and comfort her.” The butterfly nodded her head and said, “But you must have another role.” Sasha replied in surprise, “I don’t know any role other than this, but I will ask my owner Farah about my role when I return.” Sasha ran to her house and stood before Farah, embarrassed by going out without her permission. Meanwhile, Farah began to reproach her for her action until she admitted her mistake and promised not to repeat it.
In the evening, Sasha asked Farah about the role of cats in the environment. She told her that cats eat small mice, which prevents them from reproducing in large numbers in the environment. This leads to not spreading diseases and not damaging agricultural crops. Street cats do this to preserve the balance of the environment, and since no one feeds them, they must provide their food by eating mice.
Sasha jumped from beside her friend Farah, annoyed, saying, “Am I also among those who eat mice?” Farah laughed and said, “The role of a house cat is to chase mice and prevent them from entering the house. They don’t eat them because they’re not used to that.” Farah said to her, “But if you go out to the street with the other cats, you’ll eat mice like them.”