Once, a long time ago in a land far away from here, there was a man who owned a large granary, and had a number of sons. His wife had died giving birth to the youngest, and the father held a grudge against the boy for his entire life.
He was a wicked man, and came to an early end, when the boy was only sixteen. When the property of the father was divided up between his sons, the oldest received the lion's share of the estate, with the other brothers receiving smaller and smaller portions until the youngest son. "And for my youngest son, Philippe, I leave just the granary cat Puss, who should be of good use to him."
Philippe appealed to his brothers for help, but they laughed at him, having also blamed him for their mother's death. So chastened, he went to fetch his few possessions from his room, and set out to make his fortune in the world, stopping off at the granary to receive Puss.
Puss was a queen -- a female cat -- and young, gray, and fluffy. "Hello," she said.
"Hello," said Philippe. "I'm your owner now."
Puss said nothing, but stiffly rose from the small pile of hay she was lying on and stepped over to Philippe, sniffing the air.
"Let's get going; my eldest brother wants both of us off the property by nightfall, and that's only a few hours away." He hoisted his rucksack.
Puss followed him at his heels, remarking "I'm fed up with catching mice, so why not?"
Night fell on the lonely pair and they stopped to make camp in the forest, along side the road that ran along the river. Philippe started a small fire, and rubbed his empty belly. "Puss," he said, "I'm very hungry."
"So am I," she replied.
"Well, since I'm your owner, and since I'm bigger than you, I was thinking about how you'd taste on a split over the fire here."
Puss shook her head. "I'd be terrible, all gristle and bone. Besides, I'm worth more alive than cooked. Give me your boots and that bag, and I'll make you richer than all your brothers combined."
Philippe thought this over for a moment, and then, with no other options, slid off his boots and passed them, along with the empty bag, to Puss. She put them on, and, with a grin, slipped off into the night.
The first thing that she did was catch a small pheasant for Philippe, to make sure that she didn't become any more appetizing to him in his hunger. After returning to the camp and depositing the bird at her master's feet, Puss-in-Boots set out again, collecting together an assortment of game.
She proceeded to the King's castle, where she presented the haul as gifts to the king from the distant Marquis de Carabas. They were accepted gracefully, but Puss-in-Boots was informed that the King could not, as she might have hoped, receive the gift personally. He and the Princess, named Melisande, were in the middle of preparations to travel along the river road, as the first leg of a larger trip so that the Princess could take in the sights of the kingdom. She had herself just come of age, and was eager to see the lands her father controlled, as well as the neighboring lands, some of which the King had not visited for years, and had little knowledge of. Puss-in-Boots was assured that the king would know of the gifts, however, and the Marquis' generosity.
Puss-in-Boots returned to the campsite just before dawn and instructed Philippe to take a bath in the river in "oh, about an hour." Curious as to what Puss-in-Boots was up to, but willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, Philippe complied. He stripped naked and waded into the river, washing away the dust from the road the travels of the day before had left.
When Philippe was safely in the middle of the river, Puss-in-Boots grabbed his clothes and hid them in a tree, then ran to the main road to catch the King's coach, shouting "Help! Help! My master is drowning! My Master, the Marquis de Carabas, is drowning in the river! Help!"
The footmen of the king sprang into action, rushing to the water to rescue Philippe, the "Marquis de Carabas." Caught by surprise by the shouting and the sudden appearance of so many people, he slipped on the riverbed and suddenly found that, yes, he really was drowning!
The footmen hauled him ashore and, catching sight of Puss-in-Boots' grin, played along as they called him "Marquis." As they searched for his clothes, Puss-in-Boots offered up the explanation that they must have been snatched by opportunistic highwaymen. Philippe was offered fine robes from the King's own wardrobe, as well as a ride on the King's coach back to his own holdings, just outside the kingdom.
Puss-in-Boots raced ahead of the King and Philippe, toward land she knew was controlled by a cruel wizard. Peasants toiled in the fields under the hot sun, tilling land that the fruits of, Puss-in-Boots knew, would go directly to the wizard.
"Hello, sirs," Puss-in-Boots said to them.
"Hello, pussycat," one of them, the biggest and strongest of the laborers, replied. "What brings you to our land of misery and hardship?"
"I can free you from your troubles, if you tell all who pass by this road that all these lands belong to the Marquis de Carabas."
"That's all, little Puss-in-Boots?"
"That's all."
"I suppose it can't hurt to try, after all."
As the tall man went to tell the others, Puss-in-Boots traveled onward, to the keep of the wizard.
"Who is it?" The wizard called out as Puss-in-Boots approached the tower.
"Just a poor, innocent cat, curious to see the greatest shapeshifter who ever lived," Puss-in-Boots called out.
"The greatest?"
"Oh, yes sir, I have been to many ports in many countries around the world, and at every one, the name on the lips of all of the wizards is yours. 'Master Shapeshifter' is what they call you, sir, and I just wanted to get a glimpse of your fantastic ability."
The wizard, who was very vain, was amazed at the thought of this, and allowed Puss-in-Boots into his tower. "Now, what is it that you'd like to see? A beautiful woman?" The wizard transformed into a spectacular vision of loveliness, "Or a raging tiger?" He transformed into a eight-foot-long tiger, with a resplendent orange-and-black coat, "Or perhaps an elephant!" He grew even larger, into a giant gray pachyderm, and snuffed his snout at Puss-in-Boots.
"Well," said Puss-in-Boots slowly, "That was all very impressive, but I know I've seen all sorts of wizards do that."
"All sorts!? What do you mean, all sorts?!" The wizard was terrified at the thought of losing his reputation as the best shapeshifter around. "I bet I can do anything! Anything better than any other wizard."
"I've never seen a wizard become a mouse before, I think," Puss-in-Boots said, thinking. "Nope, can't say I have. Always said it's too hard to get that small."
"Hah! Too small! Nothing's too small for me!" And he shrunk down to a tiny little field mouse right before Puss-in-Boots' eyes. "What do you think about that?" He asked.
"Amazing!" Puss-in-Boots cried out, and ate him right up.
A little way away, the King's coach had reached the edge of the wizard's lands, and the King leaned out the window and asked, "Who's fields are these you're working?"
The farmhands all replied, "The Marquis de Carabas!"
The King nodded, and was impressed with the size of the lands that this Marquis owned. He signaled for the driver to continue on, to return this powerful man to his home.
In the keep, Puss-in-Boots informed the few attendants whom the wizard had employed that they now worked for his master, the Marquis de Carabas, and that all coaches were to be greeted in his name. Just as the word finished spreading through the household staff, the King's carriage arrived, and was duly greeted to "the lands and keep of the Marquis de Carabas."
Philippe exited the coach and thanked the King for his generous allowance of his use of His Majesty's coach, and offered to put up both Him and the Princess for the night, as it was growing late already. The King accepted, and Philippe entertained the pair as the Marquis de Carabas. Later, the Princess, who had taken to him as soon as she lay eyes on him, let her father know, in no uncertain terms, that she would like to see more of the Marquis. The King, who was no stranger to the political ramifications of adding the Marquis' land to his own, approved quite strongly of such a union. Just six months later, after a whirlwind courtship, Philippe and Melisande were married, and Philippe joined the royal court as next-in-line to the throne.
Puss-in-Boots became a fixture of the King's court as well, as a trusted adviser to the new Prince, as well as his representative abroad. She gave up hunting mice, except for amusement.