Once upon a time, all cats were tabby, only one was black: he was the Befana’s cat, and he accompanied her on her long journeys. Riding on her broomstick, he saw wondrous places, but always from above. The cat occasionally wondered what human life was like: when the Epiphany season ended, he experienced a kind of hibernation and slept with the witch all year long, awaiting January 6th. One night, the cat, on his journey around the world with the old woman, leaned over to try to get a closer look. The sack was open, and a gift flew out. After a while, the witch realized: “Never in thousands of years of travel had such a mistake happened!” The cat remained silent, but the old woman was magical and said: “You old cat, it was you, I’m not angry… life has been boring and lonely with me. But this child must be given something: you will go!” So the cat was catapulted into a fireplace, and when he reached the great hall, he began coughing because of the ashes. The family looked on in amazement, but the child shouted with joy: “How wonderful, a friend all to myself!” And the parents didn’t have the courage to separate them, and from that day on, the cats were no longer just tabby cats, because, in memory of that gift, there were black cats. And that’s why black cats bring good luck, because they are a gift from the magical night when dreams come true.
The story of the Befana cat
