Cats [antikvár]

FOREWORD rp ±HERE ARE, I BELIEVE, nine million cats in Great Britain, and their forebears have left their mark everywhere. You will find their name used in describing the parts of a ship, the weather, instruments of punishment in a prison, opprobrium in the theatre, and forty winks anywhere. Often their action has led to phrases which have enriched the English language, for, while the Cat looks at the King, the King's Ministers, as often as not, are watching the cat to see which way it jumps. And cats are equally at home on rag rugs or Aubusson carpets. This ubiquity points to the diversity—I would almost say contrariness—of their character. They are more agile than any acrobat and yet there is nothing they appear to enjoy more than drowsing. As kittens they look unbelievably innocent but are usually incredibly naughty. As they grow older they become meticulous yet wanton, precise and at the same time prodigal, civilised but untamed. . . . Cat—the word—has always seemed to me a poor sort of noun for such a prodigious animal. Better is the soft French chat or the harder, but still sibilant, German katze. The double syllabled Italian ^aiio or the classical felis are better still, and I find equally good the Czech matchka which is the word used by the Gypsies who, like the cat, regard civilisation with some disdain, and prefer to walk alone, minding nobody's business but their own. Yet none of these words does the cat complete credit. Cat-lovers have overcome the difficulty by inventing names to suit the character of their own particular animals. One knows, simply by the name, that Dr. Johnson's Hodge was a fine fat feUow; and how right of Edward Lear to call his stump-tailed cat Foss! Robert Southey's Hurlyburlybuss and F. E. J. Coppee's Mistigris, and Horace Walpole's Patapan all seem to me to give a strong indication of their personality. Samuel Butler said that the test of a man's literary power was to be found in his ability to name a kitten, and this would appear to be borne out by T. S. Eliot who is a genius at christening cats as well as writing poetry. In 'Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats' the very first verse is on the naming of cats. Rum Turn Tugger and Jermyanydots are unforgettable characters. But Eliot also named groups of these animals. Jennyanydots was a Gumbie Cat, which, you will remember, was a cat that 'sits and sits and sits and sits'. With the cats of Chang Tuan we touch upon oriental philosophy for one was called CVu-fen which means ExpeUing Vexation. This strikes me as being an excellent