"The Warriors" is a short story by Larry Niven in his Known Space universe. It was published in 1966. The Kzin species tied into many other stories set in Known Space. "The Warriors" is the founding story of the Man-Kzin Wars book series.
Plot[]
The Angel's Pencil, the fourth colony ship to We Made It, encounters an alien spaceship. Humans have become such a peaceful species that they cannot imagine a violent one. The Kzin prove that humans will have to learn.