They did not like such quarrelling.
But after a while the noise stopped and the very old man and the very old woman peeped out of the window to see what had happened.
They could not see a single cat!
"I think they must have eaten each other all up," said the very old woman, "It's too bad!"
"But look!" said the very old man, and he pointed to a bunch of high grass.
In it sat one little frightened kitten.
They went out and picked it up. It was thin and scraggly.
"Poor little kitty," said the very old woman.
"Dear little kitty," said the very old man,
"how does it happen that you were not eaten up with all those hundreds and thousands and millions and billions and trillions of cats?"
"Oh, I'm just a very homely little cat," said the kitten,
"So when you asked who was the prettiest, I didn't say anything. So nobody bothered about me."
They took the kitten into the house, where the very old woman gave it a warm bath and brushed its fur until it was soft and shiny.
Every day they gave it plenty of milk, and soon it grew nice and plump.
"And it is a very pretty cat, after all!" said the very old woman.
"It is the most beautiful cat in the whole world," said the very old man.
"I ought to know, for I've seen —
Hundreds of cats,
Thousands of cats,
Millions and billions and trillions of cats —
and not one was as pretty as this one."
《百万只猫》的作者是婉达·盖格，一位美国童书女作家。在她14岁时，父亲去世。24岁时，婉达的母亲也不幸离世。然而，痛苦的经历并未打垮婉达。她依靠坚忍不拔的毅力，一个人将六个弟弟妹妹养育成人。此外，她还找到了一生挚爱的事业——画画。婉达被称为美国绘本的开创者。其作品《百万只猫》曾获得了纽伯瑞儿童文学奖和刘易斯·卡罗尔奖，该书表达了“夫唯不争，故天下莫能与之争”的生活智慧。