after a time he lay down on his back , and prepared to go to sleep . but just then the ring slipped down his throat , and he had to cough , so that the ring flew out and rolled along the ground . swish!--the rat had caught it , and crept out with it to the cat , who was waiting at the rat - hole . but in the meantime the king had caught the youth , and had had him put in a great tower and condemned to death , because he had made a mock of his daughter -- so the king said . and the youth was to sit in the tower until he was beheaded . but the cat kept prowling around the tower all the time , trying to sneak in with the ring . and then an eagle came along , caught her up in his claws and flew across the sea with her . and suddenly a hawk appeared , and flung himself on the eagle , and the eagle let the cat fall into the sea . when she felt the water , she grew afraid , let the ring fall , and swam to land . no sooner had she shaken the water from her fur than she met the dog whom the youth 's master had bought for him . " well , what am i to do now ? " said the cat , and wept and lamented . " the ring is gone , and they want to murder the youth . " " that i do not know , " said the dog , " but what i do know is that i have the very worst kind of an ache in my stomach , " said he . " there you have it . you have surely over - eaten , " said the cat . " i never eat more than i need , " said the dog , " and just now i have eaten nothing at all , save a dead fish that was left here by the ebb - tide . " " could the fish have swallowed the ring ? " asked the cat . " and must you , also , lose your life , because you can not digest gold ? " " that may well be the case , " said the dog . " but then it would be best if i died at once , for then the youth might still be saved . " " o , that is not necessary ! " said the rat -- who was there , too--"i do not need a very large opening through which to crawl , and if the ring is really there , i am sure i can find it . " so the rat slipped down into the dog , and before very long he came out again with the ring . and then the cat made her way to the tower , and clawed her way up till she found a hole through which she could thrust her paw , and thus brought back the ring to the youth . 
he ate a dead fish that had eaten the ring .
why did the dog have a stomach ache ?
why did the dog have a stomach ache ?