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diff --git a/old/69482-0.txt b/old/69482-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index ccd4b3b..0000000 --- a/old/69482-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3953 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The cats' Arabian nights, or, King -Grimalkum, by Abby Morton Diaz - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The cats' Arabian nights, or, King Grimalkum - -Author: Abby Morton Diaz - -Illustrators: Francis - Boz - Palmer Cox - -Release Date: December 6, 2022 [eBook #69482] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Charlene Taylor, Barry Abrahamsen, and the Online - Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This - file was produced from images generously made available by - The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CATS' ARABIAN NIGHTS, OR, -KING GRIMALKUM *** - - -[Illustration: - - WHEN SHE WAS SEWING I JUMPED UPON HER SHOULDER. (_Page 54._) -] - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - THE - CATS’ ARABIAN NIGHTS - OR - KING GRIMALKUM - - - - BY ABBY MORTON DIAZ - - - _PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED - BY FRANCIS, BOZ, PALMER COX, AND OTHERS_ - - -[Illustration] - - - BOSTON - D. LOTHROP COMPANY - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1881, - BY - D. LOTHROP COMPANY. - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CONTENTS. - - - PAGE. - - KING GRIMALKUM AND PUSSYANITA 9 - - THE STORY OF PINKY-WHITE 14 - - THE STORY OF BLACK VELVET 44 - - WHAT SNOWBALL TOLD 67 - - MADAME PUSSY HUNTER’S STORY 71 - - THE SPRY WHITE KITTEN’S STORY 77 - - MRS. BEULAH BLACK’S STORY 83 - - TWEEDLEDUM AND TWEEDLEDEE 102 - - STORY OF MISTRESS TABBY FURPURR 119 - - THE STORY OF THE FEEBLE CAT AND HER NINE 141 - LIVES - - THE STORY OF THE TWO CHARCOALS AND THE 169 - FOUR SPEKKUMS - - THE STORY OF THE JANJIBO AND OF THE FROG 190 - AND THE RAT - - WHAT THE MOTHER RAT TOLD 198 - - A SPINNING STORY 214 - - THE BLIND MICE STORY 215 - - THE AIR-BALL STORY 216 - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -[Illustration: - - How It Happened. -] - - -One evening when a company of children and older people were looking at -funny cat-pictures and telling cat-stories, a little ten-year-old girl -asked: “Why can there not be a Cats’ Arabian Nights Story Book?” - -“There would have to be a Cat King, or Emperor, or Sultan,” said her -next older sister. - -“And a Cat Queen, or Empress, or Sultaness,” said their cousin Joe, the -sailor. - -“And she would have to go on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, -and on, telling stories in order to save her own life,” said their -cousin Lucia. - -“I propose,” said uncle Fred, “that cousin Lucia put together a Cats’ -Arabian Nights for little children, and have it ready to read to our -little children when they all shall come next summer with their fathers -and mothers.” - -“Oh yes! Yes! Do! Pray do! Won’t you do it? Say you will! Say you will!” -cried many voices. - -“I think it will be fun to do it,” said cousin Lucia, “if you allow me -to put in some make believe and nonsense, if I want to.” - -“Certainly!” was the cry. “Put in anything. Anything you please!” - -Cousin Lucia said she was willing to try, and thus it happened that the -summer-children and others got a story book beginning, as all story -books should begin, with—once upon a time. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -[Illustration: - - King Grimalkum and Pussyanita; - - OR, - - The Cats’ Arabian Nights. -] - -ONCE upon a time the aged Tommobus, King of the Cats, went forth a -hunting and returned with a wound which caused his death. So Tommobus -died and Grimalkum the Powerful became King in his stead. - -King Grimalkum was of course jet black all over without a single white -hair, or he could not have been made king, and his eyes were of the true -royal yellow. - -The first act of King Grimalkum’s reign was one of cruelty. He sent -forth an order declaring that black, maltese, and gray, were the only -colors to be allowed for cats, and that all cats which were white or -yellow, or which had more white or yellow hairs than dark ones should -not be permitted to live. Judges were appointed to measure the spots. - -This order caused great affright among the lighter cats. The wholly -white and wholly yellow hid themselves or fled to distant places, and -the partly white and partly yellow went in haste to have their dark -spots measured by the judges. - -Among those who came before the judges was Pussyanita, a beautiful -creature just out of kittenhood. Her playfulness and sweet disposition -made her beloved by all. - -Alas! it was soon made known by the judges that the dark of Pussyanita -measured many less hairs than her white ones. This caused great sorrow, -and King Grimalkum was begged to spare her life. - -“Spare her life! Not if she were twenty Pussyanitas!” cried the King; -which was a foolish answer, since she could not have been twenty -Pussyanitas, or even nineteen. - -Now this sweet and gentle creature was so much beloved, that no one -could be found willing to hurt a single hair of her. When King Grimalkum -heard this he became furious with anger, and commanded that she be -brought to him at once, saying that he himself would attend to the -business, and make quick work of it. So the lovely Pussyanita was -brought before the King. - -Her loveliness did not soften his heart; on the contrary he was made -more furious than ever by seeing that she sat licking her fur as quietly -as if sitting in her own sunny garden spot. - -“What are you doing that for, you silly thing?” he cried. “Don’t you -know you have but a few moments to live?” - -“Yes, your majesty,” replied the lovely Pussyanita, “but I cannot endure -a speck of dirt, and with good reason, for in me you see a descendant, -and great, great, great, great, great, twenty-seven times great -grandchild of the unhappy and happy Pinky-white. Your majesty must have -heard of Pinky-white.” - -“Never,” said the king, sternly. “But why do you call her unhappy and -happy? There is no sense in that.” - -“She was not unhappy and happy at the same time,” said Pussyanita. “She -was first unhappy and afterwards happy.” - -“How was that?” asked the king. “And supposing you _are_ the great, -great, great, great, great, twenty-seven times great granddaughter of -Pinky-white, what has that to do with your being unable to endure a -speck of dirt?” - -Said the lovely Pussyanita, “It would give me pleasure, your majesty, to -explain why my great, great, great, great, great, twenty-seven times -great grandmother was first unhappy, and why she was afterwards happy, -also supposing I _am_ the great, great, great, great, great, -twenty-seven times great granddaughter of Pinky-white, what that has to -do with my being unable to endure a speck of dirt; it would give me -pleasure, I say, to explain all this, but it would take a longer time -than I have to live.” - -“Time shall be granted you,” said the king, “for I am curious to know -why your great, great, great, great, great, twenty-seven times great -grandmother Pinky-white was unhappy and why she was happy, and to know -why your being her great, great, great, great, great, twenty-seven times -great granddaughter should be a reason why you are unable to endure a -speck of dirt.” - -“At your majesty’s request,” replied Pussyanita, “I will tell you the -story of my great, great, great, great, great, twenty-seven times great -grandmother Pinky-white, as she herself told it, when ordered to do so, -at Lady Yellow-paw’s famous party.” - -“Stop!” cried the king. “Why was your great, great, great, great, great, -twenty-seven times great grandmother Pinky-white ordered to tell her -story at Lady Yellow-paw’s famous party? Who was Lady Yellow-paw? Why -was her party famous?” - -“Please your majesty,” replied Pussyanita, “I shall be happy to explain -to your majesty who was Lady Yellow-paw, and why her party was famous, -and why my great, great, great, great, great, twenty-seven times great -grandmother Pinky-white was ordered to tell her story at that party, but -your majesty must perceive that to do all this will require much time.” - -“Begin then!” cried the king. “Begin with your Lady Yellow-paw and her -famous party, and then go on to your twenty-seven times great -grandmother; and do not waste time waiting or waste words in the -telling.” - -The lovely Pussyanita bowed and began with Lady Yellow-paw and her -famous party, and then went on to tell the story of Pinky-white as told -by herself at that famous party. - - -[Illustration] - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -[Illustration: - - The Story of Pinky-White. -] - - -“The first that I knew of myself, I found myself by the side of my -mother, among some hay in a basket along with three other kittens of my -own age and size. Two of our number were quickly stolen from us. It will -thus be seen that I had scarcely begun to live before I began to be -unhappy. As I grew older I became more and more unhappy, for the place -was cold, the floor was hard, our mother cuffed us, and girl-Mary, who -owned us, knew not the best way of stroking. - -[Illustration: - - Girl-Jane and Girl-Mary. -] - -“One day when girl-Mary sat by our basket, girl-Jane came down there -bringing her own cat and kittens. Girl-Jane had called to see us many -times, and I had been pleased with the looks of her face, and the sounds -of her voice, and the touches of her fingers; and she knew the best way -of stroking. “Girl-Jane was smaller than girl-Mary, but she knew more. -Girl-Jane said she wanted girl-Mary to change kittens with her. She -wanted me and Minnie because we were whiter than her kittens. - -“‘No, Jane,’ said girl-Mary, ‘I can’t change, for you know mine are all -named, and besides your cat would not like it. She knows what we are -talking about. Don’t you see how anxious she looks?’ - -“It made me unhappy to hear this. I wanted to go with girl-Jane, away -from the cold place, and the hard floor, and my cross mother and be -stroked the best way. Minnie too wished to go. She cried when girl-Mary -gave back the other kittens. As for me, I could only turn away and hide -my sorrowful face. - -“My next unhappiness was the unhappiness of being whipped with a rod. An -old lady wished for a cat to catch her mice and thought she would take a -kitten and teach it to behave well. I was carried to her home. I had -here a warm place, and a carpet, and the old lady did not stroke at all, -so that I was not made unhappy by bad stroking. But my unhappiness was -great, on account of the rod. It was rod here and rod there; rod on the -pantry shelf and rod on the chair-cushion; rod on the parlor sofa and -rod on the best bed; rod at the milk pitcher, and rod at the custard -pie. - -[Illustration: - - Well Made for Catching. -] - -“A greater unhappiness must now be told. For this greater unhappiness -was the cause of another unhappiness even greater than this—oh, very -much greater! It was the cause of a long and dreadful unhappiness in -which I nearly starved to death. It was something which would make any -and every cat unhappy. It was this. I could not catch well. Mice, birds, -moles, bats, squirrels, rabbits, almost always got away from me. I think -I must have been born short-clawed. - -“In a corner of the garden was a chicken-coop. This chicken-coop was -well made for catching. It would seem that all a cat need do was to lie -quietly on top, looking over the edge, and when a chicken popped out, -spring and catch it. Any other cat would have done all this. The next -house cat did do all this. I did not do all this. I lay quietly on top -of the chicken-coop. I looked over the edge, and when a chicken popped -out I sprang. I did everything the next house cat did _except_ to catch -the chicken. - -[Illustration: - - I Did My Best. -] - -“I had the same luck in fishing. There was a stream at the bottom of our -garden and at its edge were large mossy rocks on which a cat might -stretch herself in the sun, or if the day were hot she might lie in -their cool shade. Trees grew near by and any other cat would have often -caught a bird among their branches. The next house cat did this. I did -not do this. Any other cat than myself would have now and then caught a -fish in the stream at the foot of the rocks. The next house cat did -this. I did not do this. I often lay close to the water—as shown how to -do by the next house cat, and watched the fishes as they glided past. -When one rose to the top I did my best to catch it, but even did I have -the luck to touch one, it was sure to slip out and away. I used to think -sometimes that if fishes had not been made so slippery I could have held -on, but then the next house cat held on to slippery fishes. I am almost -sure I must have been born short-clawed. - -[Illustration: - - Bold Little Thing! -] - -“As for squirrels and rabbits, they seemed at last to be not a bit -afraid of me, even when I had become a full-grown cat. One saucy -squirrel used to tease me by coming very near and then darting out of my -reach. This squirrel became very bold. He even popped in at the doors -and windows. One day when I was asleep on the sofa by the library -window, he ran as near me as the back of the sofa—bold little thing! -and by the time I had turned over he was out of the window, and I soon -got sight of his bushy tail whisking through the tall tree-tops, and of -his little bright eyes looking down at me through the leaves. He would -not have got away so easily from the next house cat. There can be no -doubt but that I must have been born short-clawed. - -“The next house cat caught mice. I did not. I might have caught some had -not the mouse-holes been made so small. But then the next house cat had -the same kind of mouse-holes I had. - -[Illustration: - - The Next House Cat -] - -“Sometimes I thought if I had been a Tabby I might have caught as well -as the next house cat. But then I could not be a Tabby. - -“One day—oh unhappy day! the next house cat’s mistress came to see my -mistress, and they talked of cats. I lay outside under the open window -and heard every word, and understood. Mistresses, as you very well know, -dear Lady Yellow-paw—as all of you at this famous party very well -know—mistresses have no idea how much their cats can understand. - -“Said my mistress, ‘Pinky-white is the neatest cat that ever was seen. -She will have no dirt on her fur. She licks off every speck. She keeps -herself snow white. And I have taught her to behave well. I no longer -keep a rod. But she catches no mice.’ - -“‘You feed her too well,’ said the next house cat’s mistress. ‘Send her -to Miss Rhody and get you a mouser. Miss Rhody is out of a cat and is -waiting to find a neat one. Miss Rhody has managed cats these forty -years and knows how to do it. Miss Rhody never feeds a cat. If it won’t -catch mice she drowns it.’ - -“‘I will send Pinky-white to Miss Rhody to-morrow,’ said my mistress. - -“This frightened me. Oh what should I do? What could I do? In my agony -of distress I ran round and round in a circle in the potato patch, tore -up the squash vines, and at last I sprang over the high wall, and in -that house and garden I was never seen more. - -[Illustration: - - But Alas! Three Others Were Gnawing the Bone. -] - -“Then began the terrible unhappiness of my life. No tongue can tell what -I suffered. Hiding behind fences, under barns, in empty pig-styes, empty -hen-houses; being driven from back doors, hooted at by boys, barked at -by dogs, and hungry, hungry, hungry, oh so hungry!—for I could not catch -well—and always dirty! Ah! none who have not felt it can know the -unhappiness of a cat without a home! - -“One night I thought surely I should taste a bit of meat. A -black-and-white kitten kindly told me of a large bone she had seen in a -yard, and we scampered to that yard. But alas! three others were already -gnawing the bone and there was nothing on the bone, for a tommy cat had -kept the others away till he had eaten off all the meat and then he sat -seeing them gnaw the bare bone. I did not gnaw. I did not wish to gnaw -bare bone. - -“One day a dreadful thing happened to me. It was when I was hungrier -than I had ever been before, though I had been very hungry. I was so -hungry I thought I could not live, and I went into the fields to try to -catch something. It was a silly thing for me to try to catch a rat when -I was short-clawed. - -“I did. A great rat went into a field and I thought, oh if I could only -get that rat! I _must_ have that rat! I _must_! - -“I put myself down flat and crept behind that rat. He went creeping -through some wheat and corn and I crept behind, quicker than he, for I -could creep quicker. He went up a large stalk to his nest. I sprang up -and grabbed him, but alas! I could not take good hold and he got away -and sprang at me and the mother rat sprang out at me and they bit me, -and would have killed me, but I got away and ran with all my might, and -lay down under some bushes, and pretty soon that same black and white -kitten came and licked the blood off me and brought me a mole to eat, or -I never should have stirred from that spot. - -“As the weather grew colder I suffered more and more. I longed for a -home. - -“Often at evening I ran behind persons hoping to be invited to their -houses, but they always drove me back. - -“During all this time I was obliged to endure the distress of knowing -that my fur was not perfectly clean. - -“When winter came my unhappiness was greater than it had ever been -before, though it had already been very great. - -“But one day, oh joyful day! my unhappiness came to an end, oh joyful -end! I will tell how this happened. - -[Illustration: - - He Went Up a Large Stalk to His Nest. -] - -[Illustration: - - The Kind Maiden. -] - -“The ground was covered with snow, slosh and mud. I had been running -hither and thither, under barns, in coal cellars, and in other places -trying to catch something, but having had the misfortune, as I have -already told your ladyship, the misfortune of being born short-clawed, I -had caught nothing. Begrimed with dirt, hungry, cold, forlorn, I was on -my way to my jumping spot. This was the corner of a wall near a back -door. It was also near to some bushes and trees all snugly fenced in, -and under these I had often hid myself and tried to clean my fur and -watched for the back door to open. I called it my jumping spot because -sometimes I jumped from that spot and got in at the back door and -snatched a bit from the plate of the cat which belonged to the house. -Sometimes a kind maiden had thrown me scraps from one of the windows. - -“Now just as I was to jump from my jumping spot I saw this kind maiden -coming down the steps. She had her pet kitten in her arms and was -tending it with care. ‘Oh pet kitten! pet kitten!’ I mewed to it. ‘How -little you know the unhappiness of a cat without a home!’ Mewing this, I -hung my tail and was slinking out of sight when I heard these words. - -“‘Puss! Puss! Pussy! Pussy! Puss!’ How I wished I could think they were -spoken to me! ‘Pussy! Poor Pussy! Here Pussy!’ I turned my head, but -kept moving. ‘Pussy! Pussy! Pussy! Puss! Poor Pussy! Pussy! Pussy! Here -Pussy! Poor Pussy!’ I stopped. - -“‘Pussy! Here Pussy! come Pussy!’ - -“Yes! they were—they were spoken to me! She was looking at me! ‘Good old -Pussy! come here, good old Pussy!’ - -“She held out her hand. I dared not go. She went in and placed a saucer -of milk on the kitchen hearth, called me and left the door open, and -went to another room. I crept in to the hearth, and lapped, lapped, -lapped, oh how I did lap! No tongue can tell the sweetness of that milk! - -[Illustration: - - She Took Me Up. -] - -“As soon as I had eaten the milk I examined the things in the room, then -I rolled over and over on the door mat to get the coal dust off, then I -sat on the hearth and licked myself clean. The cook came in and shook -the broom at me and cried: ‘Scat! Scat!’ Just then the kind maiden -showed her face at the door. ‘Here’s a strange cat!’ the cook said to -her. ‘We don’t want another cat!’ - -“‘Why! how white and clean she has made herself,’ said the maiden. ‘She -is a neat cat. I have often seen her cleaning herself out under the -bushes. I mean to keep her. She is just the cat for poor Ellen.’ - -“I went and rubbed against her clothes, rubbed hard, and tried to purr -loud enough to make her understand that I said in purr language, ‘I love -you, love you. Don’t send me away!’ - -“Oh the happiness of a cat with a good home! I had now a good home. I -was held in laps, stroked well, talked to, even kissed. I had warm milk, -meat scraps, and plenty of fish. I was not expected to catch. I wonder -why cats are almost always expected to catch. - -“I went every day to see poor Ellen. I used to go up after breakfast and -scratch the door and get myself let in. When she combed her hair I sat -close to her looking-glass, and looked at her while she combed her hair, -and when she sat down to rest I lay on the floor and waited, and when -she put on her shoes I kept at her feet, and rubbed her feet, and then I -rubbed against her a good deal and purred to be taken up, and she took -me up. Poor Ellen could not walk much but she could hold me. She liked -me because I kept myself so clean and white. - -[Illustration: - - The Hen’s Lesson in Neatness. -] - -“The maiden said she never before saw a cat which could not endure a -speck of dirt. She said she believed I taught her other cats to be neat. -This might not have been true, but it was certainly true that while I -was with them the other cats were very careful to clean themselves after -eating. One day she called the family to see us. ‘Look!’ she cried. -‘Look at my cat that cannot endure a speck of dirt! I do believe that -rooster has brought his hen to make her take a lesson in neatness.’ - -“This might not have been true, either. He might have brought her to -make her take a lesson in neatness, or he might have brought her for the -scraps we often left. - -“Speaking of hens, a chicken made something happen to me which does not -often happen to a cat. Our hen hatched out a brood of chickens and while -they were little she was carried off by a fox. All the chickens died -except two, and one of these had a weak throat. When the fox carried off -the hen he stepped on that little chicken’s neck and it had a weak -throat ever after. One day when I was in a far corner of the garden I -heard a curious noise like a choking, or a peeping, but more like a -choking than a peeping. I watched, and presently that little chicken -came out of the grass. I should have sprung upon it if I had not seen -that it was in distress and was coming to me for help. It had got a bug -stuck in its throat. It came close to me and I licked it, and purred to -it and tried to cover it over with myself just as its own mother used -to. Pretty soon it swallowed that bug. - -“After this it often came to me to be licked and purred to when it had a -bug or a worm stuck in its throat, and at last it brought the other -chicken, and I tried to be a mother to them both, for my dear little -kittens had all been sent away. The other chicken grew faster than the -first one; it had a strong throat to swallow with. I took great care of -them both and licked them clean, for I could not bear a speck of dirt on -them any more than if they had been my kittens. - -[Illustration: - - I Tried to Be a Mother to Them Both. -] - -“Now when the maiden saw me doing this she told her brother that if I -could live peaceably with chickens I could with birds, and that she -meant to try me. She first fed me well then brought to me a tame bird. -Its wings had been clipped so that it could not fly and it was very -hungry. It was afraid of me and it hopped round crying its bird kind of -cry. But I did not touch it and when it saw me licking the chicken it -hopped near me to get some rice which both the chickens were eating. In -a few days the bird and I were good friends. He let me lick him and he -used to sit on my head and sing, and we all ate our meals together until -the chickens died. The first one died of its weak throat and the other -died of the bite of a cat. One day a girl brought her cat to see us. She -kept her up high on her shoulders, away from us, but when that other -chicken put its head out to pick up a bug, that cat jumped down quick -and caught that chicken by the head, and it died afterwards. - -[Illustration: - - The Happy Family. -] - -“But before these died the maiden and her brother tamed some young -guinea pigs and some young white mice, and made them grow up friends. -They stayed in a pen close to ours until we all became acquainted with -each other and then the slats between the pens were taken off, and the -two pens were made into one and we all lived together. I must own that -at first I did wish to catch a mouse just for the sake of catching one, -and though born short-clawed I could no doubt have caught one in a pen, -but the maiden thought I might have such a wish and pared my claws. I -was very happy with my new friends. After I knew the little mice I had -no wish to catch them. I played with them and let them run over my back. -When one comes to know mice, one likes their company and finds them very -agreeable and playful and lively. - -“The maiden’s brother said they might as well have a Happy Family, and -he trained some big birds and other birds and they came to live with us -and we were a very Happy Family. - -“When the maiden and her brother went away to live in another place they -sold us to a showman to put in his show. The showman travels about the -country showing his show. A few days ago the wagon we were in upset and -our door came open. The birds flew away, the mice hid under a rock and -the guinea pigs ran into the woods. I am on my way back home, and I -shall stay in this place only long enough to attend your ladyship’s -famous party. - -“Said Lady Yellow-paw to my great, great, great, great, great, -twenty-seven times great grandmother Pinky-white, when she had ended her -story, said Lady Yellow-paw: ‘Pinky-white, you do not speak of having a -dog in your Happy Family.’ - -[Illustration: - - I Used to Play With a Dog’s Tail! -] - -“She had hardly said this before a tittering, chuckling, clicking noise -was heard and out spoke a pert little spotted black-and-white kitten and -said, ‘Te! he! he! I used to play with a dog’s tail! A black, -peeked-nosed dog’s tail, and his name was Trippy; and he was good to me. -He had a curly tail.’ - -“‘Silence!’ cried the spotted black-and-white kitten’s mother. ‘Don’t -you know better than to speak up at a famous party—a little thing like -you? Silence!’ - -“‘Trippy liked me after you went away,’ cried another kitten; a white -one. ‘He liked me better than he liked you. He let me play with his -ears, and sleep on his neck, and he cried for me when I was out of his -sight. When somebody threw me in the water, Trippy took me out with his -mouth.’ - -[Illustration: - - He Took Me Out. -] - -“This kitten’s mother was not at the party, but its snappish old aunt, -Black Velvet, was there and she gave it a smart box on the ear. ‘It is a -pity,’ said she, ‘if at a famous party like this we older ones cannot be -heard for the noise of these pert little minxes. I myself could tell a -strange story; a story stranger far than even the one just heard from -that very neat puss, Pinky-white, with her Happy and her Unhappy, and -her Not a Speck of Dirt! Was she blown off a tree in a whirlwind? Answer -me that; or did she go to sea in a baby’s crib? Answer me that.’ - -“Said Lady Yellow-paw to Black Velvet, ‘Let me hear your strange story, -how you were blown off a tree in a whirlwind, and how you came to go to -sea in a baby’s crib.’ - -“Here the cat that hadn’t common sense rushed round the ring and stood -on her head and said, ‘I can tell the strangest story of all, for I can -tell why I haven’t got common sense.’” - -When the lovely Pussyanita had told thus far she stopped suddenly and -said to King Grimalkum, “I beg your majesty’s pardon. Oh King Grimalkum, -you only wished to hear the story of my great, great, great, great, -great, twenty-seven times great grandmother Pinky-white, and I have -told, besides this, of the spotted black-and-white kitten who played -with the peeked-nosed little black dog’s tail, and of the white kitten -he took out of the water, and have also spoken of Black Velvet who was -blown off a tree in a whirlwind and afterwards went to sea in a baby’s -crib, and of the cat who hadn’t common sense—I will say no more.” - -“You shall say more,” said King Grimalkum, sternly. “I can never close -my eyes to slumber until I know how it happened that Black Velvet was -blown off a tree in a whirlwind and afterwards went to sea in a baby’s -crib. - -“A baby’s crib is a strange thing to go to sea in; why not in a boat? or -in a tub? or even on a board? Why go to sea at all, when there is plenty -of ground, and when cats hate water? And as for that other cat, why had -she not common sense? She needed common sense. Every cat needs common -sense.” - -“I can tell your majesty in a few words why the cat that hadn’t common -sense hadn’t common sense,” replied Pussyanita. “It was because she lost -it. Do you ask how? I answer by a looking-glass and a clock. - -“When quite young she looked in a looking-glass and saw herself there, -and thought it was another cat staring at her, and got mad at that other -cat, and flew at it, and broke the glass, and frightened herself so that -she ran all over the house and when she came to the clock the clock door -was open and she jumped in. The clock door got shut and she had long to -stay there, and the noises in the clock almost made her crazy, and she -never had common sense afterwards. This tells why the cat that hadn’t -common sense hadn’t common sense,” continued Pussyanita; “but to tell -all about Black Velvet, and how it happened that she was blown off a -tree in a whirlwind, why she went to sea at all when there was plenty of -ground and cats hate water, will take a longer time than I have to -live.” - -“Time shall be granted you,” cried King Grimalkum. “Go on! go on at -once!” - -The lovely Pussyanita then went on, and went on at once, to tell the -Story of Black Velvet as told by herself at Lady Yellow-paw’s famous -party. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -[Illustration: - - The Story of Black Velvet. -] - - -“I was born in a barn. My brothers and sisters were born in the same -place. There were four of us, all of the same age and size. As soon as -we could run our mother took us all over the great barn-country. She did -everything for our good. She showed us the holes and told us which were -mouse-holes and which were rat-holes. She showed us how to spring and -how to catch, and how to hold. She brought us many kinds of eatable bugs -and taught us to snap at flies and to beware of wasps. At night she went -forth to hunt for us the slippery mole which slips so swiftly through -the grass. At day she purred us sweetly to sleep, or sometimes she let -us go with her to the wheatfields and get a peep at the moles and watch -the field mice running up and down the wheat stalks. - -[Illustration: - - Moles. -] - -“We lived in the hayloft and oh what frolics we used to have! What -frolics! What frolics! We raced, we scampered, we skipped, we hopped, we -tumbled over each other, we tumbled over ourselves, we chased each -others’ tails, we chased our own tails, we played hide-and-seek in the -hay, we scrambled up the beams, we ran along the rafters, we peeped -down, we took turns sitting in our sunbeam—I speak now of a sunbeam -which shone through a knot-hole. - -[Illustration: - - With Her Eyes Half Shut. -] - -“Our mother liked to curl herself up and sit with her eyes half shut -watching our sports. She would sit a long, long time, scarcely moving, -except to stir the end of her tail. We were happy to have her near us. -She was gentle in her manners, though of course when she was watching, -or catching, or holding, she looked fierce. Any cat would do so. She was -not one of the cross kind, always cuffing and boxing and snapping and -growling and spitting. She never punished us but once and that was when -we were very little. We fell down the crooked stairs which led up to our -home. She had always made us keep away from the small ends of the -crooked stairs because there was no room there to put our paws. - -[Illustration: - - Watching a Mouse. -] - -“One day our mother had been watching a mouse at the bottom of the -crooked stairs while we played at the top. I hopped too near the small -ends and peeped down and my brothers and sisters hopped at me, and down -we all went, heels over head. Our mother was angry, for she lost the -mouse. We went without our dinner and had other punishment which I need -not mention. - -[Illustration: - - White Satin at Home. -] - -“Now the noise we made in falling down and in being punished was heard -by some girls playing on the barn floor and they scrambled up a ladder -to find out what was the matter. When one of the girls who climbed up -the ladder saw me she said, ‘Oh! oh! A black kitten! Do give it to me! -She will make three! Then I shall have three black ones and three white -ones!’ - -“‘Yes! do take her!’ said the other girl. ‘If you don’t take her she -will be drowned.’ - -“The next day I was put in a box with holes in the cover and carried a -long, long way to a strange place. This made me sorrowful, but still I -was glad not to be drowned, and after the first day the five other -kittens began to be friendly, and the two black ones were glad I came, -for there were then as many black ones as white ones. I was named Black -Velvet to match White Velvet. The others were Black Floss and White -Floss and Black Satin and White Satin. - -“White Satin used to run away and go home to her mother and her sisters. -She had a gray mother and two gray sisters. Sometimes we went with her. -She liked to play with her sisters and show them her ribbon. Our -mistress wished us not to go and tried to keep us in the house. I did -not like this, I wanted to scamper across the garden, or down to the -river, or across a field to an old barn. I peeped all about and found -good places to get out by. Then I used to coax White Velvet, and White -Floss, and White Satin, and Black Floss, and Black Satin to go. I always -went first and they followed. - -[Illustration: - - They Looked Down Upon Us. -] - -“There were two gray kittens living in the barn, and the first day we -went there these two ran and jumped into a wheelbarrow and looked down -upon us. Pretty soon they began to stretch out their necks, and shake -their tails. Then they crept down, then they crept towards us, and began -to glare and spit, and sputter, and their tails grew so big we thought -we had better go home. - -“We liked to go to the barn on account of the chances to catch mice. The -gray kittens flew at us every time we went, and at last one of them hit -White Velvet in the eye and made it bleed. Our mistress kept us in the -house after that, but we had fun racing over the beds and playing in the -curtains. We played in the curtains so much that our claws had to be cut -at the points. We were almost as well treated as children. Our milk was -warmed, we had plenty of squash, and fish, and a good deal of chicken -meat. Catnip was brought for us. We had each a basket to sleep in, and -the baskets were trimmed with ribbons and had cushions. We had ribbons -on our necks; the catnip was good. - -“But I did not like staying in the house all the time and every chance -there was I jumped out at an open window or door, and White Velvet, -White Floss, White Satin, Black Floss and Black Satin all jumped and -went wherever I went. But after the Great Whirlwind, I was kept in the -house. I will now speak of the Great Whirlwind. - -“It was a cold day and it seemed as if a door never would be left open, -but one was left open at last, and out I went, and out went White -Velvet, White Floss, White Satin, Black Floss and Black Satin after me. -We raced across the fields to the barn. The gray kittens were not at -home and we watched mouse-holes, and chased mice till a man came and -drove us out and shut the door tight. - -[Illustration: - - We Saw a Great Dog Coming. -] - -“The wind blew; the sky was dark; the sun did not shine. We felt rain -drops. This set us scampering. When we were in the field we saw a great -dog coming and we ran to a tree and scampered up. I stopped to spit at -the dog and was the last one up. The sky grew blacker, the wind blew -harder and harder. The dog lay down on the ground and howled. Not one of -us durst come down. The rain came hard upon us. The tree branches -whirled round and round. It was a great wind. It was a whirlwind. It -blew off all the leaves that had been left on and then it blew us off. -For it was a great wind. Yes, a whirlwind. A dreadful whirlwind. I hope, -dear Lady Yellow-paw, that neither you nor any one at this famous party -will ever know the feeling of being blown off a tree in a whirlwind. I -hope you nor any one at this famous party will know the feeling of being -in a tree in a whirlwind with claws that have been pared down at the -points. None of our bones were broken. How thankful we all ought to be -that we are cats and not children, for we have cushions on our feet, so -that we can be blown down without having any bones broken. - -“None of our bones were broken but we were drenched with the wet rain. -We were almost dead with the fright and the wet rain and we crawled all -the way home. - -[Illustration: - - Off a Tree in a Whirlwind. -] - -“Our mistress was looking for us. She said, ‘Oh you naughties, come in -quick!’ We crawled in and she wiped us with a dry cloth and laid us in a -row in front of the stove, and gave us a warm supper and then some -catnip. - -“After this she kept me in the house. Said she, ‘Black Velvet, you put -mischief into the others’ heads and I will keep you in. Black Satin, -Black Floss, White Velvet, White Floss and White Satin you may go. Black -Velvet shall stay with me.’ - -“It was hard to see Black Floss, Black Satin, White Velvet, White Floss -and White Satin skipping in the yard, over fences, up and down -clothes-poles, and be myself shut up indoors. But how little we know -what is best for us! One day those others did of themselves go to a -corn-house, and there they tasted bad meat which had been put there to -kill rats, and they all died! Every one, Black Floss, Black Satin, White -Velvet, White Floss, White Satin, every one died. Oh how my mistress did -cry! And I too. Yes, I was sad and lonely. I went crying round from room -to room, calling for my lost playmates. I looked in all their baskets. - -[Illustration: - - My Mistress. -] - -“My mistress seemed to love me more than ever. ‘I have only you, now, -Black Velvet,’ she would say. Then she would hug me and hug me. She let -me do what I pleased. I had thick cream. When she was sewing I jumped on -her shoulder and played in her hair, and I went to sleep in her hat, if -I wanted to, and in her work-basket. When she went out to walk she used -to take me with her and wrap me up in her apron, and talk to me. But -when I grew to be a cat she made me a blanket of my own. It was a good -one. It was my own blanket. She loved me a great deal. - -“I said at the beginning of my story that it is a wonderful story. You -will say that this is true when you hear what happened to me next. - -[Illustration: - - I Felt Safe. -] - -“One day the river grew very big and spread up to the houses, yes, up -over the windows of the houses, and broke the houses in pieces. I was -sleeping in a rocking chair and the water wet me and waked me from sleep -and I sprang up on top the rocking chair back, and the water swashed and -there was a great noise and the rocking chair went sailing off and many -other things went, and the chair began to go down deeper and then I -jumped off on to a bucket. Something hit that a knock and I had only -time to catch hold of a box; a small one. There was just room to get all -my paws on and I had to stick my back up high. I expected every moment -to be drowned. I little thought I should live to tell the story. But a -piece of board was knocked against me. I sprang upon that. Then came a -chair. I sprang upon that. Then came something else; some thing -wonderful, but I said at the beginning that this is a wonderful story. -This next thing was a baby’s crib with the baby in it! The curtains were -open and the baby was looking out. I jumped from the chair to the cradle -and lay down on the baby. I was glad enough to get that resting place. I -felt safe with the baby. Somebody would come to get the baby. The baby -put out its hands and took hold of me. - -“I don’t know what became of that poor baby. The crib tipped over. I -heard a man speak, and perhaps he went and got the baby. I was lucky -enough to jump on to a firkin, and on this I floated down, down, down, -down, I don’t know where, but I cried, cried, cried, oh how I cried! - -“I bumped against something hard, something very big. I scrambled up. -Men were on it, and a woman, and a girl, and boys. They clapped and -shouted and laughed. Oh what a noise! Don’t people know that loud noises -make our ears ache? Don’t they know that our ears are made to hear very -little faint mouse-taps, butterfly-wing noises, and we can’t bear loud -noises? No, they don’t know. But I must go on with my story. - -[Illustration: - - I Used to Get Into the Place Where the Girl Slept. -] - -“That big hard thing was not a house nor a barn. It moved over the -water. You cats that have lived only on ground cannot think how dreadful -it is to stay in the midst of water. Not a bit of ground! No grass to -eat. Oh I thought I should die for want of a bit of something green! No -trees to climb! But there were some very high poles set for me to climb; -poles taller than trees, and ropes and everything handy fixed for me to -hang on by. I was treated well. The men fed me, the women fed me, the -girl fed me, the boys fed me. The cook taught me some tricks which I -shall be happy to show to those present at this famous party, if I shall -be properly invited. A little girl held me and she put me around her -neck for a comforter. I let her do it. The cook hung a bell round my -neck. The noise of it pained my ears, and I was glad when the woman took -it off. She took it off because I used to get into the place where the -girl slept, and wake her up. - -“Now when the ship came to the ground the cook put me into a bag and got -into a cart. He was going to give me away. Pretty soon I smelled grass. -Then I scratched and cried. Oh how I did want a piece of something green -and to roll in the grass! Every cat here knows it would be a hard thing -to live without something green. I soon got something green, and plenty -of it. The cook opened the bag a little, to show me to another man and I -took a sudden spring and away I went, and the more he called, ‘Puss! -Puss! Puss!’ the faster I ran, and at last I found myself all alone in -the fields, in a strange country. - -[Illustration: - - Two Live Things Sitting Together. -] - -“I rolled over and over, and tore up the grass, and ran up and down -trees, and then I lay down behind a bush and watched to see if there -were any moles or field mice in that country. Pretty soon I saw two live -things sitting together. They looked like rats, but they had white on -them. They were sitting in the sun. I was going to spring at them, but I -stopped. I was in a strange country. How did I know if the creatures -were good to eat? They might be bad as that bad meat which killed poor -White Velvet, White Satin, White Floss, Black Satin, and Black Floss; or -they might have dreadful teeth, or dreadful claws. - -“While I was waiting a minute to think about it, I heard a sound in the -grass; a creep, creep, creep, creeping sound in the grass. It was a cat. -But she did not spring quick enough. They heard her and skipped out of -sight quicker than a wink. - -“As the cat sprang past me I could see that she had no tail. ‘Poor -thing,’ I said, ‘she has lost it in a trap!’ Pretty soon I saw another -cat without any tail. Then some kittens without any tails. I thought -that must be a dreadful place for traps. I dared not step in the grass -to hunt. - -“I got very hungry keeping still without hunting for mice and moles, and -at last I went to a house. In the yard of the house a black-and-white -cat without a tail stood and looked at me. - -“‘What do you want here?’ said she. - -“‘I want to go in the house,’ said I. - -“‘Be off!’ said she. - -“‘I won’t!’ said I. - -[Illustration: - - The Black-And-White Cat. -] - -“Then she began to spit, and she flew at me, and I flew at her. A woman -came running out and took me up. ‘Oh you beautiful creature!’ she said. -‘You’ve got a tail! I’m so glad to get a cat with a tail.’ I must tell -you, dear Lady Yellow-paw and all present at this famous party that the -cats of that strange place did not have any tails. ‘No tails!’ cried -Lady Yellow-paw and others. ‘How then do they show when they are glad -and when they are mad?’ - -[Illustration: - - The Mouse That Black Velvet Caught. -] - -“I said at the beginning, dear Lady Yellow-paw, that this is a wonderful -story. Let me tell you that the cats of that place do not wish to have -tails. ‘Not _wish_ to have tails?’ cried Lady Yellow-paw and others at -the famous party. No, your ladyship. But let us not be conceited and -think our own ways are always the best. To be sure a tail does add to -the good looks of a cat, still we all know that a tail _is_ a great -care; always likely to get rocked on, or stepped on, or pulled, and is -sometimes in the way when you want to sit down. That no-tailed cat made -my tail a way of hurting me. All present must have seen that its tip is -gone, though all have been so polite as to seem not to notice this. It -was the doings of that jealous no-tailed cat. She was jealous because so -much notice was taken of me. She could not bear me to come into the -house. She clawed, and bit, and spit at me so that my mistress had to -let me sleep in the room with herself and her little boy. One night I -did what pleased my mistress very much. One night a mouse jumped on her -boy’s bed, and waked him up, just as I used to wake up that girl when I -had that bell on my neck. I caught this mouse, and found him quite as -good as any in our own country. My mistress praised me more than ever, -after this, and held me, and stroked me a great deal, but her doing so -made that other cat maul me worse than ever, and I should have run away -if my mistress herself had not come away. My mistress came to this -country and brought me with her. Here I am, out of reach of that jealous -cat’s teeth and claws. Here I am well-fed and tended. Here I live an -easy life. Yet still I am not happy. Would you know the reason why? My -mistress has another cat, a partly white cat. People call her a -beautiful cat. So she may be to any one who fancies white paws and white -noses. I do not like to see my mistress hold that cat and stroke her. I -am obliged to see it. I am obliged to see the boy like that cat; hug -that cat; I am even obliged to see her allowed to jump up and eat milk -from the same bowl with him, something _I_ have never been allowed to -do! - -[Illustration: - - Something Black Velvet Was Never, Never Allowed to Do. -] - -“All this is hard to bear. I do not like to think about it, and to keep -myself from thinking about it I employ myself in teaching the way of -opening doors. Every cat should know how to open doors. There may be -times in a cat’s life when she may save her life by knowing how to open -a door. There are times in every cat’s life when she may get food by -opening a door. - -“Here a number of cats sprang to their feet and began to tell of -particular times when they had saved themselves and got food by knowing -how to open doors. Among them was the cat that hadn’t common sense. ‘One -at a time, my dears,’ said Lady Yellow-paw. ‘Snowball, will you begin?’” - - * * * * * - -“But I humbly beg your Majesty’s pardon,” said the lovely Pussyanita to -the King. “The particular times when all these saved themselves or got -food by knowing how to open doors were not in Black Velvet’s story. You -asked, oh King, for Black Velvet’s story. That is ended, I am silent.” - -“You shall not be silent!” thundered King Grimalkum. “Speak! As king of -all the cats, I wish particularly to know the particular times when all -those saved themselves and got food by knowing how to open doors. As -king of all the cats, I should be well informed on all such matters.” - -[Illustration: - - She Used to Sit on a High Wall. -] - -“To tell you what you ask,” answered the lovely Pussyanita, “would take -a longer time than I have to live.” - -“Time shall be granted you,” said the king. “Begin without delay to tell -what Snowball told.” - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -[Illustration: - - What Snowball Told. -] - - -“When my sister Lily and myself were quite young, but not very, the -people who lived in the house began to talk of drowning us. Now all -present at this famous party will agree with me that if we are to be -drowned at all we should be drowned when we are too young to know -anything about it. I suppose there is not one here present who would not -rather have been drowned when she knew nothing about it, than to be -drowned now. - -“When our mother heard drowning spoken of she took us under the barn, -and there we stayed a long time. We lived under the barn. Our mother -would not let us come out. She used to sit on a high wall and we wanted -to, but she said dogs would get us and boys would scare us. A small boy -used to come out there with his books and his slates and his other -things, and this small boy crawled under the barn and found us and -dragged us out, and then our mother moved back to the house to live. On -the very day we moved back, I was put into a covered basket and sent -away in a rattling thing called a carriage. The noise it made frightened -me almost to death. I scratched the basket and clawed the cover, and -stuck my paws through, and mewed and cried, for I was dreadfully -frightened at the rattling! At last they put me in a house. I was afraid -to stay in that house. Everything in that house was strange to me. The -people were strangers. It seemed like a dreadful place. The people put -their own things on all the good high places, and every time I jumped on -a good high place, there would be a running and a screaming enough to -scare you out of your senses. As if kittens would knock things off! As -if kittens were clumsy as people and could not walk _between_ things! -You know kittens, and cats too, need high places to jump up to. - -[Illustration: - - Just Right to Spring At. -] - -“There was a small boy in the house and he had a whip. I need say no -more. You all know or can understand, what it is to live in the house -with a boy and a whip. But I was going to say that even the oldest of us -have been kittens once and we know that a kitten must spring at things -a-moving. I did. The boy rode on a wooden horse, and the horse had a -tail just right to spring at. It was placed behind the boy so that he -could not see me. But the people could, and they punished me for doing -what I could not help doing. A kitten would not be a kitten did it hold -back from springing at such a beautiful tail a-moving. - -“I was whipped and put down cellar a great many times and even when I -had grown quite large; for I was always of a lively turn. - -[Illustration: - - Curled Up on the Best Rug. -] - -“Oh what fun I had with the people after I learned to open the cellar -door! Mornings they would say ‘I wonder who let the cat up?’ Sometimes -just after I had been put down cellar for meddling with tassels or -knitting work, they would find me on the best bed or in the best chair, -or in the best room curled up on the best rug. At last these people took -all their things and went away and left me there with nothing to eat. -Every day I had to go forth to seek my food. Pinky-white has told you -something of what this means. Hanging around back doors, kicked, -starved, frozen, barked at by dogs, chased by cruel boys! Oh tongue -cannot tell what I suffered from cruel boys! They yelled at me, they -threw stones, they tormented me in every way they could. Just the sight -of one would make me tremble. One day when I was on a clothes-pole I saw -two boys coming, far away. They yelled at me and picked up stones. I -scrambled down. I ran toward the house. I heard their shouts. I ran to -the back door. The door was shut. I sprang up, caught the latch, the -door opened, I ran in to a woman, looked in her face and said, ‘Oh do -take care of me!’ - -[Illustration: - - The Rat Family. -] - -“The woman was so much pleased with my opening the door that she invited -me to live in that house, and I was glad enough to stay for there is a -meat-shop in the house. I have lived there a very long time. I make -myself useful by driving off cats and dogs that come to steal meat. Of -course I never steal. I do not need to. I am fed so well that I never -know what it is to be hungry, and have no wish for mouse-meat or -rat-meat. In fact the rats and I are such friends, I sit near them in -the garret and watch their goings on in their families, and they never -mind me at all. - -“My good fortune came from knowing how to open doors. I will say no -more, for I know the company wish to hear Madame Pussy Hunter’s story.” - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -[Illustration: - - Madame Pussy Hunter’s Story. -] - - -“I am chiefly an out-doors cat. I like to catch moles and field-mice and -rabbits, and bugs, and butterflies. I like butterflies almost as well as -Pussy Gray did. Poor Pussy Gray who was stung in the eye by a bumble-bee -while watching for butterflies and went crazy! I am fond of birds too. - -“In this I am different from the renowned Tabby Furpurr, who found out a -way of not liking birds, and on that account had her picture taken and -put in a frame! - -[Illustration: - - Just Dropping Off to Sleep. -] - -“I was always a butterfly hunter, but not always a mole hunter, a -field-mouse hunter and rabbit hunter. I will tell you how I happened to -become a mole hunter, a field-mouse hunter, and a rabbit hunter. - -“One day I went out among some tall flower stalks to catch butterflies, -and got very tired of jumping, and lay down to take a nap under the -flower stalks. I was just dropping off to sleep when I heard a noise and -looked up and saw my sister coming. She asked me to go to her house and -get some cream. She knew where there was a good deal of cream in a good -place. She wanted me to open the pantry door. As my sister was anxious -for me to go, I went, and we both enjoyed a hearty meal. We crept out of -the pantry and then softly under chairs and tables to the passage-way. -In that passage-way was my sister’s kitten playing with a ball of yarn. -She pawed it, and clawed it, and pushed it, and tumbled heels over head -over it, as kittens will do—ah, we were all kittens once! and at last -she pushed it into a room. We peeped in at the door and saw the kitten -leave the ball suddenly, and pop behind the screen. Her tail was very -big, and her back was up, so we knew something had frightened her, and -crept in to see what had frightened her. In the middle of the room was a -great chair, and from that chair was something hanging down, something -furry. We went near to see what it could be. It looked like a dog’s head -upside down. It was a dog’s head upside down. Cats that have always seen -dogs’ heads upside up, have no idea how a dog’s head looks upside down. -This dog’s head was upside down and the whole dog was upside down; -upside down and asleep. - -[Illustration: - - The Dog That Was Upside Down. -] - -“Both our tails began to grow big. We left the room quickly, and softly -as possible, and ran through a long passage, then up-stairs, then -through another long passage, and _then_ we heard the dog coming, -barking! We ran faster. We knew he was on the stairs; knew he was after -us. We got to the end of a long passage. The bark of the dog sounded -nearer and nearer. There was no way out of the passage. Oh what a moment -that was! I saw a door. I sprang up twice, and opened it the second time -trying. I tremble, even now, to think what might have become of us had -not a window of that room been open, or had I not known how to open a -door. We darted through that window, and went down by a water-spout. The -dog looked out and turned and ran down-stairs, but by the time he was in -the yard we were safe on a shed. Oh how thankful we ought to be that -dogs cannot climb! - -“I was saved, but in my haste I trod on a tack nail, and it stuck in my -paw and made my paw in great pain. I went limping, and the pain of the -paw made me sick. My dear mistress! How good she was to me! She took out -the nail and bound up the sore place, and fed me with warm sweetened -milk and water, or if I was thirsty, gave me cool, clear water to lap, -and held me, and made for me a soft bed, and talked to me, and _poored_ -me. Oh how pleasant it is to be talked to and _poored_! - -“I felt so grateful to my dear mistress that as soon as I was well I -went out to catch everything I could for her—rabbits, moles, field-mice. -That was why I became a hunter. Everything I could I brought in and laid -at her feet, because I wanted to please her. I would not eat one of them -until she told me I might. I never ate even a mouse until I had shown it -to her. Sometimes I bring birds. She is not pleased with me, then. She -scolds me when I bring birds. I don’t know why she scolds me for -bringing birds. I should like to know the renowned Tabby Furpurr way of -not liking birds.” - -Scarcely had Madame Pussy Hunter finished when up sprang a Spry White -Kitten and hopped out on three paws, and said: ‘_I_ can tell a story of -a door opening.’ Some of the older ones tried to hiss her down. She was -asked if her story would tell how she lost her right fore paw. Upon -learning that her story would tell how she lost her right fore paw, they -asked to hear what the Spry White Kitten had to say. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -[Illustration: - - The Spry White Kitten’s Story. -] - - -[Illustration] - -“It is a short story that I am going to tell, but I wish to tell it. I -wish to say that for my part I have never found any good come from -knowing how to open doors. Not that I know how, but my mother does. She -opened a door the other day to show me some cream. It was butter-cream -streaming down a butter-churn. She told me to jump up and lick, and I -did, and a man came and boxed my ears and I have not heard well since. - -[Illustration] - -“Another time to please me, she opened a door and let me into a large -dining-room that had long curtains just right to scratch and to climb up -by, and a funny old feather hung over a funny old clock. I could go up -on those good curtains, and jump to the clock and play with the feather. -And one day I meddled with the clock to find out where its noise came -from, and was caught and got the worst whipping I’ve ever had yet. - -[Illustration: - - The Cat With Her Ears Tied Up. -] - -“Then here is my brother Bobby hiding yonder behind Black Velvet. Why -does he hide? His ears are tied up with strings. Bobby likes -work-baskets. He teased our mother to let him into a room where there -was a work-basket. He played in it, and the girl tied his ears with -strings, and he ran round, and rolled, and could not get them off, and -ran into a coal-hole, and stayed till he was very hungry, and when he -went into the house he went to a boy that was sitting on the floor -eating milk. That boy did not give him any milk. No. He took a great -cloth and tried to wash Bobby’s paws in the milk! Bobby got away, and -now he has come to this famous party with his ears in strings. A pretty -state he is in to come to a famous party! We all know how dreadful it is -to have our ears meddled with. - -[Illustration: - - It Got Hold of My Leg. -] - -“But all this is nothing to what happened afterwards. My mother opened a -door to let me into a room where there was a mouse-hole. Now a boy had -put in that room a curious thing. I went close up to it to see what it -was. It was a crab, but I did not know that. I was young. I never had -seen a crab. I touched it to find what it was made of, and it got hold -of my leg just above my paw. I never screamed so in all my life. Oh how -I did scream! And no wonder. My leg was broke. My paw had to be taken -off, and now I have to be three-pawed. Now I have to go limp, limp, -hopperty limp! Only three paws to run away from cruel boys with, and -barking dogs! Only three paws to climb with! Only three paws to claw -with! No; as for me, _I_ have never seen much good come from knowing how -to open doors!” - -“‘You had better sit down, Miss,’ exclaimed Black Velvet. ‘Young people -should be seen and not heard. We are speaking at this famous party of -the good of knowing how to open doors—not of the bad. Mrs. Beulah Black -is present, and has something to relate which all will like to hear.’” - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -[Illustration: - - Mrs. Beulah Black’s Story. -] - - -“In me, my dear Lady Yellow-paw, you see a child of the unfortunate -Pussy Gray who when watching for butterflies was stung in the eye by a -bumble-bee and went crazy, and ran away. There were three of us born on -the same day, namely: Lily, Dinah Dusky and myself, Beulah Black. Pussy -Gray was one of the best of mothers. She herself cared neither for rats, -mice, nor moles. She liked birds and bugs and was very fond of -butterflies. But she would sit long watching at a hole to catch mice or -moles for us, and then she would bring them to us, and show us how to -play with them, and stand looking at us in her motherly way. She grew -thin from staying in to take care of us. We were a quarrelsome set. - -“I don’t know what became of Lily, but Dinah Dusky went when she was -very young to live in a corn store. I stayed at a house nearer my -mother’s house, and it was well that I did, for at the time she got -stung in the eye by a bumble-bee, she had another young family, and I -was able to go in and take care of them, and to punish them when they -needed punishment. I was then a mother myself with my first little brood -around me. - -[Illustration] - -“I remember the day well. My mother left the family and went into the -garden to catch butterflies. If she did not see any butterflies it was -her custom to stand still and listen for the sound of their wings. She -was doing so when that sad thing happened to her. My sister, Dinah -Dusky, had come that day to see my dear little beauties and we two went -out together to catch bugs for them. Our mother was in the garden not -far from us. She stood stock still. She had heard the sound of a -butterfly’s wings. An instant more and she would have turned her head. - -[Illustration] - -“Then it was that the bumble-bee stung her eye. She ran. We ran. We -could not catch her. We could not think what made her behave so. She ran -this way and that way, over fences, back again, through bushes, over -bushes, across fields, and at last away she went out of sight and was -never heard from afterwards. Every day my sister Dinah Dusky and I went -forth to look for our mother, hoping to bring her home to her young -family. - -“It was when we had been in the fields looking for her that we saved -ourselves by my sister’s quickness in opening a door. I will explain how -this happened. - -[Illustration: - - The Cat That Was Stealing Milk. -] - -“My sister and I went into a swamp to look for our mother, and we caught -sight of a rabbit there. We lay down close to the ground, and crept, -crept, crept, softly along, not making a bit of noise. Sometimes we -stopped creeping; then we crept; then we stopped; then we crept, getting -all the time nearer and nearer. The rabbit was asleep part way under a -log. We had crept very near when all at once we heard the bark of a dog. -Dreadful sound! In an instant we were on our feet and running. We ran -towards a house. At first the dog did not see us. Then he saw us and ran -after us, barking. Oh how frightened we were! We ran faster but he ran -faster than we. He came near us, barking, barking, barking, oh it was -terrible! For he came so close to me that I felt his breath. He caught -me by the back of the neck, and just then a boy called him off, and he -dropped me and went to the boy. I ran on. My sister had gone far ahead. -We ran towards the back of the house. The dog came again. We heard him -coming afar off. He would not stay with the boy. I almost died with -fright. There wasn’t a tree nor a clothes-pole near. But there was a -door that my sister had opened before at times when it was necessary -that she should get something to eat without being seen. She opened this -door now, and frightened a cat that was there stealing milk out of a -pitcher, and made her tip over the pitcher. - -“We went in and ran through a back shed to the barn. I sprang up on a -hay rack, and my sister—all at this famous party will be surprised to -hear what my sister did. My sister sprang up on the horse’s back! - -“We were not a minute too quick. We just saved ourselves. The dog was -close behind. But he could not get at us and he had to go away. - -“I have more to tell. That horse and my sister became friends. When he -stayed in the barn she used to stay on his back. He liked to have her -stay there. He could not bear to be without her. He was not easy unless -she came and stayed on his back. - -“The man said it would not do. He said it would hurt the horse and they -carried him far away. - -“Now comes the sorrowful part. My sister mourned so for the horse that -she would not eat. She would only lap a little water sometimes. She grew -weak and thin. She did not clean her fur. She would stay in the barn and -lie down on the spot where the horse used to stand. At last she was seen -no more and after a long time she was found, dead, high up on a haymow -in a far corner! - -[Illustration: - - My Sister Sprang Up on the Horse’s Back! -] - -“This is all I have to say, your ladyship, but my younger brother David -is here. Though now bigger than I, he was once smaller. He was one of -the young kittens our mother left when she went out to catch butterflies -and was stung in the eye by a bumble-bee. David will tell you of a time -when he opened a door and ran away, and why he ran away.” - -All present said they would like to hear David’s Story, and he began as -follows: - - -[Illustration: - - David’s Story. -] - - -“I was one of the young kittens Pussy Gray left when she went out to -catch butterflies. My sister Beulah Black has told you what happened to -Pussy Gray, how she went crazy and went nobody knew where, and was never -heard from afterwards. - -“My Sister Beulah Black had a young family of her own, and one day she -tried to carry us to her house, in order that she might not have to be -all the time running back and forth. It happened that I dropped into a -hole, and she could not get me out. She had to leave me. Now this was -lucky for me, for the others of my mother’s young family, and all but -one of my sister Beulah Black’s young family were sent away and lost. I -have often wondered why it is that so many little kittens are sent away -and lost. - -[Illustration: - - She Took Turns Rocking Me and Her Dolly. -] - -“Only for falling in that hole I might not be here. But I came near -dying there. When taken out I was almost starved to death. I could not -move; I could not make a sound. Girl-Nellie took me out and kept me for -her own. She made me a cotton-wool bed in a cricket, she covered me over -with silk, she fed me with a spoon, she held me just as if I had been a -baby. And when I grew larger she used to rock me in the baby’s cradle -and sing to me. She took turns rocking me and her dolly, and when dolly -was being rocked I sat and waited for my turn to be rocked and sung to. -Oh, how I did love my little mistress! I wanted to sit on her lap. I -wanted to be with her a great deal. I told her all this, though perhaps -she never understood what I said. I knew the time for her to come home -from school, and went always to meet her. She did not know how I knew -the time. People do not know how cats know things. My dear mistress -would not let boy-John torment me. Boy-John was not cruel, but he wished -me to sit up on my hind legs, and to hold a stick, and to jump through a -hoop. It was easy enough to do such things but I did not like to do -them. Boy-John used to say to the baby, ‘Come Baby, bring David!’ I was -so big then that baby could hardly lift me, but he would drag me, and -push me, and try to lift me. - -[Illustration: - - Could Hardly Lift Me. -] - -“Many at this famous party have spoken of what they have suffered from -cruel boys and from dogs, but nobody as yet has spoken of a baby. Tongue -cannot tell what I suffered from that baby. A baby will step on any part -of a cat. A baby will sit on a cat. A baby does not mind what part of a -cat it lifts up a cat by, whether by the tail or by a leg, or by the -head. A baby will pull your ears, will stick its finger in your eyes, -will even meddle with your smellers, and you must keep from touching it, -because it is a baby. - -“I never did touch that baby to hurt it. I loved that baby. I kept my -claws way in out of sight, and if I ever squealed it was sometimes when -he sat down on me hard, and squelched the squeal out of me before I knew -it. - -“I come now to something painful to speak of. You will be surprised to -learn that I ran away from that dear Nellie mistress. This will now be -explained. - -“Unhappily for me, I had great skill in charming birds, and I was as -fond of birds as my mother Pussy Gray was of butterflies. I mean I was -fond of them as food, not as friends. There was no cat anywhere around -that could charm a bird as well as I could. I used to stay under a tree -and when a bird came and sat on a bough I would look straight up at him, -and then he could not fly away. He would cry, and flutter his wings, but -he could not fly away. He would have to drop. - -[Illustration: - - I Dropped the Bird. -] - -“I used to carry the birds to my dear mistress, for I wanted to please -her, and birds were the best things I could get. But she was not -pleased; she scolded me. I could not understand why she praised me for -catching a mouse and scolded me for catching a bird. A bird is better -than a mouse. Pretty soon she began to do something besides to scold. I -was punished in the way cats are punished. I need not tell. All at this -famous party know. After I had been punished a great deal I kept away -from trees. But one day I was in a window-seat, asleep. The window was -swung open, and I lay there to enjoy the sunshine and fell asleep. The -noise of a bird woke me. I stretched myself out flat and looked up. The -bird was on a high window above. When I had looked at it a little while -it began to cry, and then it flew down to the top of the window that was -swung open. It flew lower and lower, and I made a spring and caught it. -My mistress came in and I dropped the bird on the window-seat, and -jumped down and crept away. I felt so ashamed I did not know what to do. - -“I was not whipped, but I was punished. I punished myself. I left that -pleasant home and my dear mistress. You will understand why when I -explain. - -“That night my mistress’ mother said, ‘We cannot have David killing so -many birds. Something must be done with him. I will get a boy to do -something with him early in the morning.’ I knew what she said. I did -not know by the way people know. I knew by the cat-way of knowing, and -not by the people-way. All present at this famous party know how cats -know what people say. I understood what my mistress said, but I kept -still under a table, and when nobody was looking I crept under the -chairs out into the back room, and opened two doors and ran away, far -away, and for a long time I lived the dreadful life of a cat without a -home. - -“One day a man invited me to go home with him. He keeps a store. There -are herring and eggs in the store. I have lived there quite a long time. -I want to go back to my dear mistress, but I am afraid they will get a -boy to do something with me. I like to suck eggs, though as my master -keeps a stick I do not take any except the broken ones he gives me. When -I tease for herring he gives me a piece. I watch people and if they -touch anything that belongs to my master I lay my paw on them and speak. - -“Scarcely had David finished when out popped two gray little kittens, -twins, both named Kittywinks, saying: - -“‘We are the Kittywinkses, and we’ve come to this famous party.’ - -“Lady Yellow-paw waved her paw and said: ‘One Kittywinks at a time, my -dears.’ - -[Illustration: - - The Good Child-Baby. -] - -“One Kittywinks then said: ‘David talked about a child-baby. Call bad. -Child-baby not bad. We’ve got a child-baby. He does not step on us. He -does not sit down on us. He does not squelch us. He does not hurt. He -touches us softly. He would never tie strings on our ears. He poors us, -and strokes us, and lets us sit on chairs and sofas with him, and crawl -all over him, and play with his curls, and play with his beads, and play -with his playthings. He likes us, only he does not like to have us kiss -him with our noses, but with our mouths, but we don’t know how to kiss -with our mouths, and we have to kiss with our noses.’ - -“And the Kittywinkses capered back to their places. - -“All present at Lady Yellow-paw’s famous party were pleased with the -Kittywinkses, and no wonder, for they were a merry pair of twins, and -not much like the sour faced ones, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, called in -the story, _Dum_ and _Dee_.” - - * * * * * - -“What story?” cried King Grimalkum in a stern voice. - -“The story of the renowned Tabby Furpurr,” answered the lovely -Pussyanita. “Tabby Furpurr who found out a way of not liking birds, and -had her picture taken and set in a frame.” - -“I wish to hear the story,” cried the King. “Tell it.” - -“With pleasure, your majesty,” replied the lovely Pussyanita, “but to do -so will take a longer time than I have to live.” - -“Time shall be granted you,” answered the king. “Tell all you ever heard -of Tweedledum and Tweedledee, and of the renowned Tabby Furpurr.” - -The lovely Pussyanita bowed and began to tell all she had ever heard of -Tweedledum and Tweedledee and of the renowned Tabby Furpurr. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -[Illustration: - - Tweedledum and Tweedledee. -] - - -“In the days when Mouseroun al Ratchid was King of all the Cats, it was -his custom to disguise himself in mealbag powder and walk about the -country to see what he could see, and see it without being known. - -[Illustration: - - The Good-Kind Boy. -] - -“One cloudy morning soon before a storm—the time when our race are -liveliest—Mouseroun called Phi, his wisdom cat, and the two set forth -upon their travels. After proceeding quite a distance they came in sight -of a small boy with a porridge pot, sitting under a tree, eating -porridge. A white cat close to his feet begged for the porridge, and a -big dog stood by and licked the boy’s face and begged for porridge, and -put his nose in the boy’s bread-bag. - -“‘Of what kind is the boy?’ asked Mouseroun of Phi. - -“‘Of the good kind,’ replied Phi. - -“‘How knowest thou that, oh Phi?’ - -“‘Because the dog and cat come close and show no fear. They ask for -food, sure of getting it.’ - -“‘Tell me, oh learned Phi, why a boy has long claws only on his fore -legs.’ - -“‘Because his hind legs are for walking and standing,’ replied Phi; ‘and -for walking and standing, short claws are better than long claws.’ - -“‘Tell me further,’ inquired Mouseroun, ‘why a cat mews and a dog -barks.’ - -“‘For the same reason that a cow moos and a horse neighs, and a pig -squeals, and a bird sings, and a frog croaks, and people speak,’ -answered Phi. ‘Of course all these would mew if they could, but as they -cannot mew they must do what they can do.’ - -“‘And why, oh Phi, are some cats born white, and others black, and -others gray, and others of divers colors?’ - -“‘Because,’ answered Phi, ‘it takes all kinds of cats to make a world.’ - -“Just at this moment a young black-and-white cat came up and began -spitting at the dog, and clawing the cat, and biting the boy’s toes. -When the dog growled, the cross cat ran out of sight. - -“‘Shall we go on and observe what that ill behaved creature will do -next?’ asked Phi. - -“‘By all means,’ answered Mouseroun, ‘but look where at yonder window a -ribboned white cat sits stiff and straight, gazing at something afar. -Let us hasten thither.’ - -[Illustration: - - Cupep the Careful. -] - -“They hastened, and when they reached the window Mouseroun asked of the -ribboned white cat: ‘Oh, ribboned white cat, sitting stiff and straight -gazing at something afar, at what art thou gazing, and what is thy -name?’ - -“‘I am gazing at flies,’ answered the ribboned white cat, ‘and I am -called Cupep the Careful.’ - -“Mouseroun made a sign to Phi to ask of the ribboned white cat why he -was called Cupep the Careful. Phi did so. - -“‘Because I can be trusted,’ replied the ribboned white cat to Phi, ‘and -trusted in any place, among china, glass, pictures, bottles, papers, no -matter how high the shelf, how narrow, or how full. I step in and out so -carefully that no harm is ever done. Nobody minds even if I step on the -baby’s face. You see I am allowed here with papers and a bottle and -feather, easy to upset. All this is why I am called Cupep the Careful. I -shall presently sit on the paper, and to sit on paper is pleasant.’ - -“As Cupep the Careful finished telling why he was called Cupep the -Careful, Mouseroun drew Phi’s attention to two dark objects sitting in a -barn at some distance. Bidding Cupep the Careful good morning they went -towards the barn and found that the two dark objects were two -black-and-white young cats. Said Phi, ‘These must be the sour faced -twins, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, called _Dum_ and _Dee_. I have often -heard of them, but never any good.’ - -[Illustration: - - Tweedledum and Tweedledee. -] - -“They went nearer. The sour faced twins sat side by side looking cross -and unhappy. Mouseroun motioned to Phi to address them. - -“‘Are you not the twins Tweedledum and Tweedledee, called _Dum_ and -_Dee_?’ asked Phi, ‘and is it not one of you which shortly ago bit the -toes of a boy, and spit at his dog, and clawed his cat?’ - -“‘It was I,’ said Tweedledee, ‘who did that. I could not maul Cupep the -Careful and I meant to maul somebody. I will maul him if I can. The -stuck-up thing! Everybody praises him. He has a watch to wear. Nobody -praises me and I have not even a ribbon. He has had his picture taken -and hung up. Why don’t they take my picture?’ - -[Illustration] - -“‘They’d much better take mine,’ snarled Tweedledum. ‘I’ve been crying -to have my picture taken ever since I saw that one of Tabby Furpurr who -found out a way of not liking birds, and on that account had her picture -taken and set in a pussy willow frame. They won’t take my picture. But -I’ll be even with them. I get hold of the clock strings, I tangle yarn, -I won’t purr, I climb posts and tear down the flowers, I scratch the -baby’s face, I pull away his playthings, I wait on the doorstep and bite -his fingers, when he tries to reach me, and I kill birds. _I’m_ not -going to find a way of not liking birds if they won’t have my picture -taken! I am better looking than Tabby Furpurr; I’m sweet and lovely.’ - -[Illustration: - - I Bite the Baby’s Fingers. -] - -“‘I am sweet and lovely myself,’ said _Dee_. - -“‘You’re not!’ said _Dum_. - -“‘I am?’ said _Dee_. - -“‘Say it again!’ said _Dum_. - -“‘I do say it again!’ said _Dee_. - -“‘Take that!’ said _Dum_. - -“‘Take that!’ said Dee. And the two seemed as if they would tear each -other’s eyes out, so that Mouseroun was wroth, and Phi had much ado to -keep him from punishing them both on the spot. - -“‘A future time is better,’ said Phi. ‘To act in anger is to make -ourselves like these. Come, let us go and seek out the much renowned -Tabby Furpurr who found out a way of not liking birds, and who on that -account had her picture taken and set in a pussy-willow frame.’ - -“Mouseroun and Phi pursued their journey, rambling hither and thither, -listening to the speech of bees, flies, bugs, worms, toads and frogs, -and to the butterflies’ happy hum, which is too faint to be heard by the -clumsy ears of people—people who think they hear everything and hear so -little! - -“‘Dost thou know,’ asked Mouseroun at last, ‘where dwelleth this -renowned Tabby Furpurr?’ - -[Illustration: - - Tabby Furpurr. -] - -“‘I have not that knowledge,’ replied Phi. ‘She must be now quite aged, -and therefore well known hereabouts. Yonder is a young Persian, all so -happy with her three kittens, as soft and white as herself. I will -inquire of her concerning Tabby Furpurr.’ As they approached the young -Persian, Phi inquired of her, ‘Dost thou know Mistress Tabby Furpurr, -young Persian, and canst thou direct us to her abode?’ - -“‘I know Mistress Furpurr well enough,’ said the young Persian, ‘but I -decline to direct you to her abode. It is too much trouble.’ - -“‘We are anxious to find her,’ said Phi, ‘and we are weary with travel.’ - -“‘No doubt,’ replied the Persian; ‘but I prefer to stay and enjoy the -company of my children.’ - -[Illustration: - - The Happy Young Persian. -] - -“‘And wilt thou not direct us?’ asked Phi. - -“Answered the young Persian, ‘I have said what I have said.’ - -“‘Good day, then,’ said Phi, and he drew Mouseroun away, fearing he -might do something rash. - -“‘Canst thou explain,’ asked Mouseroun of Phi as they journeyed on, ‘why -the young Persian should refuse to please others when she is herself so -happy?’ - -“‘The most happy are often the most selfish,’ replied Phi. ‘Those who -have known unhappiness are likely to feel pity.’ - -“A little farther on they looked in at a great stone doorway and there -they spied a rat which had hidden in a dark corner to eat a head of -wheat. ‘Rats are wise,’ said Phi, ‘perhaps yonder fellow may direct us -to Mistress Tabby Furpurr.’ - -“But as they drew near to inquire of the rat, he dropped his wheat and -fled. - -“‘Now, why was that?’ asked Mouseroun. ‘We meant him no harm.’ - -[Illustration: - - The Rat. -] - -“‘A rat,’ said Phi, ‘must judge by what has been done, not by what is -meant. After all that has been done by cats to rats, it will take a long -time to make rats believe that cats mean rats no harm. - -“‘I fear we shall not get any rat to direct us to the abode of Mistress -Furpurr.’ - -“Phi was mistaken. Soon after, in passing a barn they heard much stir -and scampering inside. ‘Wherever there is a stir and a scampering,’ said -Phi, ‘we may be sure there is something going on inside.’ - -“Mouseroun was eager to enter, but Phi held him back lest harm might -befall him and himself stepped forward. - -“‘Rats,’ he whispered, as he stepped back. - -[Illustration: - - Taken in a Trap. -] - -“There were six rats inside the barn; a father, mother and four children -had come to visit one of the family that had been taken in a trap. The -mother looked in at the front of the cage, the father looked down from -over the top. As Mouseroun and Phi drew near, the father, mother and -four children fled to their holes. - -“The rat in the cage when questioned by Phi, said he had been told by -his parents not to go in, but he thought he knew best, and he did not -believe the trap would shut down so quick. - -“Did he know where Mistress Tabby Furpurr lived? and would he tell? - -“Oh yes, he had reasons for knowing where Mistress Tabby Furpurr lived, -and he would tell, and he did tell and with a kind good day, Mouseroun -and Phi passed on their way. - -“‘I observed,’ said Mouseroun to Phi, as they passed on their way, ‘that -the rat in the trap showed no fear of us. How was that?’ - -“‘It must have been,’ said Phi, ‘that he knew we could not get at him.’ - -“‘True,’ said Mouseroun. ‘Thou art truly a Cat of Wisdom.’” - -[Illustration: - - We Went Back. -] - -Not very long after this, Mouseroun and Phi reached the abode of the -renowned Tabby Furpurr and heard the story of her life. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -[Illustration: - - Story of Mistress Tabby Furpurr. -] - - -“I was one of two kittens born in a respectable corner of a garret. My -twin sister was sickly and died at an early age, and my mother, being -lonely, stole a black kitten from another cat. The black kitten’s mother -came to get her, but my mother was big and strong and with the help of -my two older sisters she drove away the black kitten’s mother and kept -the black kitten. - -[Illustration: - - The Black Kitten. -] - -“I did not like that black kitten. She was coarse-haired, she bit my -tail, and when I had spools, or marbles, or knitting-work to play with, -she got them away from me. - -“One day when she bit my tail I flew at her throat and gave it a bad -bite and made it bleed. I never saw her afterwards. I did not know what -became of her but I never saw her afterwards, except in dreams. I had -dreadful dreams. Once I dreamed I saw her sitting over the fireplace, -holding her paw to her throat, and next time I dreamed she came close to -me with her mouth and eyes wide open and glared at me. - -[Illustration: - - First Dream. -] - -“My older sisters grew so large that the people thought they would send -me and my mother away. They got us into a basket, and shut down the -covers quick, and carried us very far. They thought my mother would -never find the way back. My mother did. We got home at night, but my -mother climbed up to the house top with me in her mouth and jumped -through a window that she knew in the roof and in the morning they found -us on the rug. - -[Illustration: - - Second Dream. -] - -“Not long after this my mother was shot for her beautiful skin. I was so -lonely that I mourned very much. The dog took care of me. I did not -think Nep would be so kind, for sometimes he had barked at me, but when -he knew I was sorry and lonesome he asked me to snuggle close to him and -if any people touched me he drove them away. - -[Illustration: - - Scamper Up and Down His Big Sides and Tickle His Paws, and His Nose. -] - -“When my older sisters saw me with Nep they wanted to come and he let -them come. We warmed our feet in his hair. My sisters were too lazy to -play, but one of them used to catch fleas in his hair. I did not like to -catch fleas. I liked to scamper up and down his big sides and tickle his -paws, and his nose. He used to give me some of his meat. He did not give -my sisters any. I will now explain why I left Nep and that house. - -[Illustration] - -A pretty-faced white kitten used to come and play with me sometimes. One -day when I was asleep on the door-mat, I was waked by a small noise and -there was the white kitten’s face looking in at the door. She wanted me -to go and see two rats. She said two rats went every day to a place to -sit in the sun and we could stay behind a rock and peep at them. - -“I went with her to see the rats. They were too big for us to meddle -with, but we could peep at them. - -“The white kitten liked to frolic and we raced over the fields and on -the fences as much as we wanted to. - -“All at once we heard a noise. People came. The white kitten got away -but a man caught me, and carried me in some whistling cars to his home. -He wanted to keep me. I was afraid to stay in that strange place and I -squeezed out through a hole in the cellar. - -[Illustration: - - The Two Rats in the Sun. -] - -“Then something dreadful happened. I was chased by boys. They were -dreadful boys. They hurt me. They made me tremble. They did things too -cruel to mention. - -“They set a dog on me. I could hardly move, I trembled so. I crept under -a rail and the dog stayed there, barking. I thought he would seize me, -but before he did it a boy came and took me and treated me kindly, and -carried me in his arms to his own home and took care of me. - -“Oh how I did love that boy! I wanted to stay with him all the time. - -“Every day when he went to school he let me go with him as far as the -bridge. - -“Then I would look up in his face and mew, ‘Mayn’t I go further?’ - -[Illustration: - - The Boy That Treated Me Kindly. -] - -[Illustration: - - He Nibbles the Pink. -] - -“He would lift up his finger and say, ‘No, Tabby Furpurr. Go back!’ And -I always went back. But when it was time for him to come home I went to -the bridge and waited till he came and then went to the house with him. -The boy’s dog did not like to have the boy like me so much. He was not -so good as Nep. He would not let me warm my feet in his hair. He looked -at me when I stole cream or custard. If they caught me stealing cream or -custard, I hung my tail and went over to the grandma house to stay. When -grandma caught me stealing I hung my tail and went back to the boy’s -house to stay. A girl lived in the boy’s house, and she tamed a mouse. -It stayed in a box. One day the boy looked at me hard, and lifted up his -finger and said, ‘Tabby Furpurr, you have had enough to eat. This mouse -is not for you. I am going to let this mouse out. Don’t you touch this -mouse. Do you hear? _Don’t you touch it!_’ - -[Illustration] - -“I knew what he said, and I never did touch that mouse. The girl played -with it and let it stay in her work-basket. It liked to nibble green -things that were brought into the house. - -“One day it got at a flower that the girl put in water and hung up, and -it nibbled the flower. One day it was nibbling something green and it -knocked over the thing the green was in and spilt the water on me and -scared me, and made me jump, though I was quite an old cat then, and -could not jump as spry as a kitten. - -[Illustration] - -“It was at this time that I had my fight with a woods cat. She came to -our barn. I never saw her before. I went to the barn to get some catnip. -There was catnip among the hay, and when I felt that I needed catnip I -went and picked it out of the hay. That woods cat came to get some of -the catnip, but she had no right there. It was in a place under the -haymow and a great deal of the catnip hay was there. The woods cat was -sitting on it, pawing it with her paw. - -“She flew at me, and we had a fight. She would have killed me if the -girl had not come with a broom. - -[Illustration] - -“I was a bad looking cat. I went lame and had salve on me. The girl took -care of me, and as soon as I could walk she let me go in the garden with -her when she picked flowers. I liked to go into the garden. She used to -sit under a tree and read a book, and I used to sit on the seat close to -her, and if she stroked me I purred loud. - -“But she found out I liked birds. She saw me under a currant-bush eating -a bird, and whipped me with a stick and said, ‘Shame, Tabby Furpurr! -Shame on you to eat a little bird!’ And I went to the grandma house to -stay. - -“A bird came to live in our house. It lived in a cage high on the wall. -The boy showed me the bird and looked at me hard, and lifted up his -finger and said, ‘Tabby Furpurr, don’t you touch that bird. That bird is -not for you. _Don’t you touch that bird!_‘ - -“I did not mean to do anything to that bird. But it kept moving and -hopping, and shaking its wings, and shaking its tail, and it made me -look at it; and one day when it shook itself very much I looked at it a -long time and at last I jumped at it. Before I knew what I was going to -do I jumped at it, and the cage fell down. I could not get the bird. He -kept himself in a corner. - -“The boy’s dog barked and ran to tell the people something was the -matter, and they all came and spoke loud and held up their fingers and -cried ‘Shame! Shame!’ - -“I went over to the grandma house and hid under a bed and stayed till I -was almost starved. Then I crawled out and put my paw on grandma’s foot, -and looked up in her face and she gave me some milk, and let me warm me -at her fire. - -[Illustration: - - The Rat That Fought the Duck. -] - -“Something happened to her duck. It let its little ducks go with it -under the bridge to the pond, and it got itself killed. There was a rat -there, and it was going to get one of her little ducks, and she began to -fight the rat, and the mother rat came out and helped fight the duck, -and the boy drove them away, but afterwards the duck died and left the -little ducks. - -“But grandma had a barn cat. She was not a Tabby. She was only a -black-and-white cat, but she was a very good cat. She never would touch -a bird or a chicken, and she never would suck an egg. She did not like -me. She would not let me come in her barn. I did not let her come in my -barn. She was a good cat for not liking birds. - -“The boy carried the little ducks to the barn and tried to make a hen -that was there take care of them. She would not do that. She went and -left them. She would not scratch up worms for them. The other ducks -would not. They had to take care of their own children, and these little -ducks stayed all alone by themselves, and cried for their mother. - -“Now that barn cat, though she was only a black and white cat and not a -Tabby, sat down there with the little ducks and took care of them. Every -day she went there and stayed with the ducks, and when they went into a -puddle she mewed for them to come back. - -“When she sat taking care of the little ducks, people used to come and -look at her. The first time she took care of them grandma’s dog barked -at her. When grandma told him it was all right, and let him see her -stroke the barn cat, he went away, but sometimes he came to look at that -cat and the ducks to see if all was right. Sometimes the cat would spit -at him. She would spit at anybody that touched one of her little ducks. -When the little ducks went in wet places she took them by their necks -and brought them out, and she carried them by their necks so much that -they had crooked necks. One day a strange cat, a great white Tommy, came -and looked in at the barn door when she was staying with the little -ducks and she flew at him quick, and almost clawed his eyes out and he -was glad to run. - -[Illustration] - -“One day I wanted very much to taste of a little duck and I tried to get -one, and I hurt its leg, and she clawed me and made me drop it, and -grandma shamed me and I went back to the boy’s house and hid under a -bed, and when I was almost starved I crawled out and the boy whipped me -hard and carried me back to the grandma house, and into her barn, and -showed me that barn cat with the little ducks, and lifted up his finger, -and looked at me hard, and whipped me again and said: ‘Tabby Furpurr, -don’t you see that barn cat staying with ducks and not eating any? And -_you_ even fly at birds! Don’t you ever touch any kind of bird again. Do -you hear? Find out a way of not liking birds. _Find out a way of not -liking birds! Remember!_‘ - -[Illustration: - - The Duck’s Defender. -] - -“I knew what he said, though not in the way people know. I knew by the -cat-way. I remembered by the cat-way of remembering. I kept very still, -I did not steal, and when they thought I was asleep I was finding out a -way of not liking birds, and after I found it out I never touched a bird -again, nor a duck, nor a chicken. I stayed with the girl under the tree -and never touched a bird. I watched the bird in the cage when he hopped -and shook his tail and did not jump at him, and I would not let any -other cat touch a bird nor a duck nor a chicken. - -[Illustration: - - They Thought I Was Asleep. -] - -“One day when some killed chickens were hanging up, a great Maltese cat -came and looked at them and was going to jump for them but I spit at her -and drove her away. The people were pleased with me all the time and the -girl let me stay in the room when the bird’s cage-door was open and when -he flew out; and more birds came there to live and the birds had little -birds, and they grew big birds, and I was a friend to them, and the girl -got a very big cage for all the birds and sometimes she let me stay in -there with them and I did not touch one. They would stand on my head and -walk on my fur, and I let them. The boy was pleased with me and the girl -was pleased with me. - -[Illustration: - - Going to Jump for Them. -] - -“I am an old cat now; a very old cat. I do not care for balls, or -spools, or marbles, or knitting-work, or tassels, or strings. I do not -wish to jump high. I like to sit by the fire and feel the _warm_ all -around me. You have heard my story!” - -“Mouseroun made a sign to Phi by which Phi understood that Mouseroun -wished him to ask Mistress Tabby Furpurr the way she found out of not -liking birds. - -“‘Excuse me to-day,’ replied Mistress Tabby Furpurr to Phi’s question. -‘I am weary and must take my repose. Some other time I will tell.’ - -“Soon after this Mouseroun and Phi went to a great Battle of the Cats -and were long absent. Upon their return they set forth as before to -travel about the country, and again sought out the abode of Mistress -Tabby Furpurr. - -“As they journeyed on they were met by two lively young black-and-white -cats, the same two they met before, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, called -_Dum_ and _Dee_. - -“They were full of frolic and good-nature, tumbling over each other, and -snatching at each other’s tails. - -[Illustration] - -“‘Whither so fast?’ asked Phi of them as they met. - -“‘To catch some bugs for a cat with a large family of kittens,’ they -said. - -“You are not as sour as you were,” said Phi. - -“‘Oh, no,’ said _Dum_ and _Dee_. ‘It is folly to be sour when sweet is -better. We found that out.’ - -“‘You might have your pictures taken now,’ said Phi. - -“‘We’re so happy we don’t care to,’ said _Dum_ and _Dee_. ‘Good day to -you.’ - -[Illustration] - -“‘Beware of guns,’ said a faint voice near by. - -“It was the faint voice of a feeble cat who had crept under a bush to -die. - -“‘We’re not afraid,’ said _Dum_ and _Dee_. ‘We have our nine lives, you -know.’ - -“‘Go not quickly through them as I have done,’ said the feeble cat. -‘Beware of dogs, beware of stones, beware of guns, beware of shutting -up, beware of boys, beware of drowning, beware of hot water, beware of -stepping on, beware of wet blacking-brushes.’ - -“‘I have lived eight lives, and am now dying of a spot of blacking.’ - -“‘Tell us about the eight lives,’ said _Dum_ and _Dee_; and at a sign -from Mouseroun, Phi made the same request. - -“‘I will try,’ replied the feeble cat, ‘if you will bear with my -weakness.’” - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -[Illustration: - - The Story of the Feeble Cat and Her Nine Lives. -] - - -“My name is Pixie. I have lived my eight lives, speaking after the -manner of cats, and am now in my ninth, which will soon end. - -[Illustration: - - To Catch Butterflies. -] - -“When I was small and very young I was dropped in water. The water -washed me back to the sand. I could not stir. I was kicked. People said -‘dead kitten.’ A great cat took me to a good place and licked me, and I -opened my eyes. The great cat came many times. I should not have lived -if she had not caught butterflies and grasshoppers for me. She got very -good butterflies. Sometimes her spotted kitten came to see me, and -sometimes she went to the fields with her mother to get butterflies and -grasshoppers for me, and one day she brought me a very big grasshopper. - -[Illustration: - - She Brought Me a Very Big Grasshopper. -] - -“When I could stand on all my feet the great cat carried me in her mouth -to a house and a girl let me come in, and I was that girl’s kitten. She -held me a great deal. Once when I was crawling on the floor, the boy -walked across and he stepped on me so hard that I was all out flat, and -they took me up on a shovel and carried me out to another room to stay -till I could be buried. Next morning the girl came out there crying -because her kitten was dead. The boy came with a shovel to bury me; but -I was crawling on the hearth. The boy said, ‘Hurrah for Pixie!’ and the -girl hugged me and kissed me. - -[Illustration: - - I Was Scared. -] - -“One day the boy took something off the stove, and tied the dog to it -and told the girl to carry me to ride; and she put me in and tried to -carry me to ride, but it was too warm, and I was scared of riding in it, -and jumped out and ran with all my might through the house and -up-stairs, and hid in a closet. The closet-door got shut and I stayed -there. I had nothing to eat. I mewed all the time, but the people were -far away. When I could not mew any longer I dropped down. There was -nothing left of me but my skin and my bones. When the people found me -they took me out-doors to bury me. They put me in the sunshine and in a -little while I opened my eyes. I was close to the hens’ clams, and I ate -some and crawled away from that place, and the boy carried me into the -house, and I got well. - -“Mornings I scratched on the girl’s door and when I was let in I jumped -upon her bed and played with her nose and with her toes, and sat on her -and purred loud. - -“A white cat lived in that house. She was not my girl’s cat. She was the -small girl’s cat. She could not purr. She had no voice to purr. The -small girl put the white cat’s ear close to my mouth and said, ‘Purr -like Pixie!’ and the boy rubbed her paws together, to make her purr, and -squeezed her tail softly and stroked her, but she did not purr. She had -no voice to purr. - -[Illustration] - -“The white cat and I played together with the balls and the spools and -the hammock strings and the knitting-work, and sometimes Pomp, the dog, -played with us. The dog liked to play. When the small girl stayed in the -hammock to sew her work and see picture books, the white cat used to -stay in the hammock or close by, and take a nap; but the boy used to -come and make her jump, and sometimes Pomp came there and jumped in the -hammock. - -“When the white cat grew older she had some kittens. I had not had any -kittens. She was taken much notice of. The white cat lost all her -kittens but one and as soon as that one could run she and her mother -were sent away. Then the small girl held me and I was glad, for she -spoke to me softly and touched me softly. She liked me because I could -purr. - -[Illustration] - -“One morning the white cat came back with her kitten. I saw her standing -at the door to be let in, and I knew she ought not to come back, and I -tried to drive her away, and we had a fight, and a cruel woman threw hot -water at us from the kitchen, and it scalded my head and I went under -some bushes to die. I could not see; I went by my smellers. When people -found me they called me but I would not come out. They brought me some -milk and a piece of meat, and I ate a little, and when I could see with -both eyes I came out, but my neck has always been stiff on one side. - -“The next time I almost got killed it was by a heavy stone. The stone -fell on me. I liked to go in the garden and climb upon a high wall and -see what was on the other side. A Molly girl lived on the other side, -and a horse, and a dog, and two great cats, and hens, and there was a -great deal there that was good to eat. The Molly girl wanted me to play -in the sand with her and sometimes she took me down from the wall. She -made holes in the sand and covered me up and when I was covered up I -jumped out and ran and then came back. Sometimes she let me ride with -her Jemima in her Jemima’s doll carriage. - -[Illustration: - - Climb Up on a High Wall. -] - -“A woman came out every day to give corn to the hens, and things to the -two great cats, and talk to the horses. I did not want the hen’s corn. I -liked the things that were put into the two great cats’ plate, but the -dog always wanted what was left. The two great cats had a plate of their -own. - -“Once when the two great cats were not there and that dog was not, the -woman put something in the plate, and went away and I thought I would -jump quick and get it, and I raced along the wall and got tangled in a -vine, and jumped, and fell and pulled a great stone down on myself; on -the back part of myself; and I could not stir, and when the boy found me -and took the stone off, I was a good deal jammed, and I could not walk -with the legs which belong to that part. People said I must be killed, -but they waited, and I did not have to be killed. I walked with all my -legs. - -[Illustration] - -“When I grew bigger I used to go into the Molly girl’s house and the -woman used to drive me away. She did not like me, for she saw me get -into the hen-house at a place where it was broken, and saw egg-shells I -left when I sucked the eggs. I could not eat egg-shells. - -“One day I did something bad, though I did not know it was bad. I was in -the Molly girl’s house. Her Jemima’s doll’s carriage was on a high -place, but the strings hung over. The wind blew hard that day and I was -very frisky and I jumped and pulled the doll carriage down by the -strings and broke it, and dragged it about and played with it very long. -When the Molly girl came there she cried. The people came and drove me -out, and said very loud, ‘_Scat! scat!_’ A cruel boy that heard them -_scatting_ me set his dog on me, and that dog chased me, but he would -not have touched me if the cruel boy had not said, ‘Shake her!’ When he -heard that he took me by the throat. Oh _Dum_ and _Dee_, may you never -have anything so dreadful happen to you! - -[Illustration: - - I Did Something Bad. -] - -“The dog dropped me behind a tree and people found me and said I was -dead. The girl I belonged to said I was alive, and they waited, and when -they saw the end of my tail stir they put something on the sores the dog -made, and the grandma woman took care of me, and I got well. But I would -rather have died than to have that cruel boy do so again. Only a cat can -know what a cat can suffer from cruel boys. Dogs would not hurt us if -people and cruel boys did not tell them to. - -“One day I had some kittens of my own. We were in a good closet close by -my own girl’s bed. Oh I was proud of my pretty little dears! I wanted -people to come and see them. But when people came they said, ‘Why! why! -why! The cat has kittens in the closet! Take the cat and kittens away -from that closet!’ - -[Illustration: - - Carried Them to the Barn. -] - -“They carried us up to the garret and put us in a box. I would not stay -there. I took my kittens one at a time and carried them in my mouth back -to the closet. We were put up in the box again and the garret door was -kept shut. I got out of the window and carried my kittens down by tree -branches, and got in by another window, and soon they found us in the -closet. Then the boy put some of my kittens in his hat and another boy -took some and they carried them to the barn, and I went there too; but I -would not stay there. I knew what the best place was, the best place was -the closet. - -“When it was dark I carried my kittens back to the closet. Then they -carried us down cellar, and kept the door shut. I found a hole and made -it bigger, and squeezed through that hole with my kittens and went back -to the closet. They put us down cellar again and stopped up the hole, -and kept the door shut. - -“One day soon as the door was opened I slipped quick between somebody’s -feet, and went up-stairs to the grandma woman’s room, and sat by the -fire. The grandma woman looked at me hard and said, ‘Poor Pixie! It is -too cold for your kittens down cellar; go bring them here.’ - -“I knew what she said and answered her in my mew language, and went and -got my kittens and she made a bed for us in a basket that had room in -it. - -[Illustration: - - Where It Was Not Right for Kittens to Go. -] - -“When my kittens were big enough to crawl I went away and left them -sometimes, and if they cried for my going I punished them. When they -were good I let them play with my tail; but I always kept one paw ready -to punish them if they bit me, or bit each other. I took great comfort -with my dear kittens. They understood everything I said to them. One was -taken from me, but I tried to be contented with what were left. - -“They soon grew big enough to follow me all over the house, and I took -them to many places. One room was always shut. I did not like that. No -cat likes to have a door kept shut. - -“One day a woman went in that room and worked and moved the things; and -she went away and left the door not shut tight, and I pushed in with my -kittens, and they had a happy time. They raced and scampered as if they -were crazy kittens, for there was a high wind blowing that day. I tried -to keep them out of the bed-curtains, but they would go there. They all -got on the bed and raced over the pillows where it was not right for -kittens or even cats to go, and they bit the fringes, and jumped up and -clawed the tassels and some of the tassels were so good that I clawed -them myself. Almost any cat will claw a good tassel hanging down in a -windy day. The kittens rolled over each other too near the edge of the -bed and rolled off, and hopped up and went scampering round the room -pulling all the things they wanted to. They went up on high places and -tipped things over, and pulled things down, and got into the drawers, -and Pomp heard them, and he came in there and jumped about and pulled -things out of the drawers, and gnawed things, and played with my -kittens. They would not mind me, and all I could do was to sit in a -chair and watch them. - -“I thought I heard a mouse in a closet, and went in there to see; and -while I was in there somebody drove out my kittens and Pomp. I stayed to -see about the mouse, and I ate something bad in that closet. It had been -put there for the mice. - -“What I ate in that closet made me sick and I was very sick. They gave -me medicine. They held my mouth open and put the medicine down my throat -with a spoon. I did not like it. I would not take any more. I went away -in dark places. Sometimes I crawled into the house, and then they tried -to make me eat. They could not make me eat. I grew weaker and weaker, -and one day they said I was dead. The boy said, ‘That cat is not dead. -That is one of the cats that will live all her nine lives.’ - -[Illustration: - - Only Two. -] - -“I was not dead, or if I was dead I came to life again. - -“When I came to life again two of my kittens were playing by my side. -Only two. The others were gone. Very soon even these two were taken from -me. Not one of them ever came back. Kittens that have been taken away do -not come back. - -“Now that I had no kittens to need me at home, I was free to go out and -meet my friends on fences and the shed-roofs. I went often, and enjoyed -my fights with them very much. - -[Illustration: - - There I Saw a Rat Hanging by His Tail. -] - -“One day when it was cold weather I went to a swamp to watch a rat’s -nest. Another cat had been watching for that rat, but I meant to get it -myself. I ran all the way, and when I got there I saw the rat on the -tree holding on by his tail and eating what he could find, and I went -up, but the rat slipped down the other side and went to his nest. - -“I had better have kept away from that tree. By going up that tree I got -shot. Two boys saw me, and one shot me. I dropped to the ground. The -boys came and kicked me. I was almost dead. The shots stayed in me and -they are in me now. I could crawl a little, but I was very weak. - -[Illustration: - - He Dropped Me on a Doorstep. -] - -“While I stayed there, crawling a little when I could, a cat came out -from the swamp and ran at me. She was one of my own kittens grown up -into a cat. She had been dropped in the woods, and she was a wild cat. -She flew at me and she would have damaged me very much if a dog had not -barked and scared her away. The dog did not touch me. He took me out of -a muddy ditch. I was crawling, and did not know I was close to the muddy -ditch, and fell into it and went deep in the mud and water. The dog -jumped in and pulled me out. He carried me to a house and dropped me on -the doorstep. The boy came from my house to see me. The people said I -was dead. The boy said, ‘No, she will come to life. She is a cat that -will live all her nine lives.’ And I did come to life. The boy carried -me home, and the grandma woman washed me and fed me with milk, and put -me in a good bed, and I was soon well enough to take a little squash -with my milk. - -“The grandma woman used to hold me, and speak softly to me, and if I -jumped on her shoulder she never pushed me off and said ‘scat!’ If I -jumped up there when she was eating breakfast she let me stay, and let -me taste of her breakfast. - -“I wanted to thank the grandma woman, and so one day I brought her a -little fish I caught in the pond. I stood on a stone in the pond and -looked down close to the water, and when a fish saw my eyes shine -sometimes it would jump up, and if I put my paw out quick I could catch -the fish. The grandma woman was pleased when I brought the fish, and she -wanted to sing to me. I did not like to hear anybody sing. When anybody -began to sing I got up and walked all around the room, and scratched at -the doors, and I could not keep still. Sometimes the grandma woman sang -when I was asleep; but I opened my eyes and began to walk. Sometimes I -jumped up and put my paw on her mouth. - -“One day the white cat and myself got carried off in a bag. It was going -to rain, and we were washing our faces a great deal. A bad boy called us -out, and we stopped washing our faces and went out, and he put us in a -bag. There were very many cats in the bag. The boy carried us to a place -far away and put more cats in the bag, then he carried us to another -place and put more cats in, and then he carried us all very far to a -strange place and let us all out of the bag in a room and shut the doors -and windows tight. - -“One of the windows was broken a little and a great cat pushed the glass -out, and we all went through, and set off for our own homes in the rain, -but I went in a barn and hid till the rain stopped. It took me very long -to go home. - -“As I passed by a house on my way home, a man in that house was making a -noise on a fiddle, and I ran and jumped up on his shoulder, because he -was making the noise, and he pushed me off, and I ran, and he threw a -wet blacking brush at me, and made a spot on my fur. - -[Illustration: - - She Never Pushed Me Off and Said, Scat! -] - -“I came home and tried to lick off the spot, but I could not reach it. -It is far off and my neck is stiff. Not any cat would lick it off for -me. I smelt it all the time and felt it, and it worried me. I could not -eat. I grew weak and sick. Sometimes I crawled to the basin and lapped -one or two laps of milk, but no more. I did not catch. Mice came near, -and I did not even stir the end of my tail. I kept in dark places. I -have but little strength left, and with that I am now crawling to the -woods to die. Farewell. Beware of guns, beware of dogs, beware of -stones, beware of stepping on, beware of shutting up, beware of hot -water, beware of drowning, beware of cruel boys, beware of wet blacking -brushes. Farewell. You will never see me more. - -[Illustration: - - And Lapped One or Two Laps of Milk. -] - -“Pixie then crawled to the woods where she was afterwards found dead; so -dead that she never came back to life. - -“_Dum_ and _Dee_, and Mouseroun and Phi, his Wisdom Cat, watched Pixie -until she had crawled out of sight. _Dum_ and _Dee_ then frisked away to -catch bugs for the puss with the large family of kittens, and Mouseroun -and Phi journeyed on to seek the renowned Mistress Tabby Furpurr, who -found out a way of not liking birds, and on that account had her picture -taken and set in a pussy-willow frame, and who had promised to tell the -way to Mouseroun and Phi. - -“They did not find her. The renowned Mistress Tabby Furpurr had long -lain buried beneath the lilac bush, having died of old age, and alas! -without revealing the way she found out of not liking birds!” - - * * * * * - -“Which was a pity,” said the lovely Pussyanita to King Grimalkum as she -finished the story, “since now our race must be blamed for liking birds -when they cannot help liking them. Blamed, dropped, shot, drowned, -stoned—not many of us would be living had we not our nine lives, though -not many cats have done to them what was spoken of in the story the cat -that hadn’t common sense told at Lady Yellow-paw’s famous party.” - -“What story was that?” asked King Grimalkum quickly. - -“Nothing your majesty will care to hear,” answered Pussyanita. “It is -not a common sense story.” - -“I say I do want to hear it,” cried King Grimalkum. “I don’t want any -more common sense stories. I’m tired of common sense. I insist upon -knowing what was spoken of in the story the cat that hadn’t common sense -told at Lady Yellow-paw’s famous party.” - -“Your majesty must understand,” said Pussyanita, “that probably it never -really—” - -“I don’t care a mouse-ear for your _never reallys_,” interrupted King -Grimalkum. “I want the story.” - -“Your majesty’s wish shall be obeyed,” replied Pussyanita, “but your -majesty will perceive at the beginning that it is not a common sense -story.” - -“Make no more words about it!” furiously cried the king, “if you do -I’ll—” - -The lovely Pussyanita made no more words about it, but hastened to begin -The Story of the Two Charcoals and the Four Spekkums. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -[Illustration: - - The Story of the Two Charcoals and the Four Spekkums. -] - -[Illustration] - - -“There was once a cat who had six kittens of exactly the same size, two -very dark ones and four very light ones, and as she could not think of -names for so many and as it was an important matter, she spoke to their -uncle Thomas about it. Their uncle Thomas said it was an important -matter, and sent her to ask the wise and aged Goody Gumbo. Goody Gumbo -had seen much and heard much, for she had been alive ever since the days -when willow trees bore real pussys and some said she was picked off a -willow tree herself. - -“Goody Gumbo named the two dark kittens Charcoal, and the four light -ones Spekkum, and they were afterwards spoken of as the Charcoals and -Spekkums. - -“When the Charcoals and the Spekkums had grown old enough to run -out-doors, it was seen that one of the Spekkums was much too frisky, and -that they all were likely to be. - -[Illustration] - -“Their mother spoke to their uncle Thomas about it and he said, ‘send -three of them to school to learn to behave and they can teach the other -three. - -“‘Send three of the Spekkums and let Frisky Spekkum be one of the three. -I will see the schoolma’am.’ - -“The schoolma’am said that she would teach three of the Spekkums to -behave if they would go to the school well dusted in meal bag powder, as -she herself always did. Their mother said she would attend to that and -three of the Spekkums were sent to school and Frisky Spekkum was one of -the three. - -[Illustration] - -“The schoolma’am took them by themselves and talked to them seriously. -She then placed them in a row and said: ‘Rule first! Sit straight; tails -down; noses up; ears flat; paws hanging!’ - -“They did so, but Frisky Spekkum did not sit as straight as the others. - -“‘Rule second! All stand. Ears up; tails up!’ - -“They did so, but Frisky Spekkum sat down before she was told to. ‘If -you can’t mind,’ said the schoolma’am, ‘I’ll have no more to do with -you,’ and turned away with a scowl. - -“‘O, do have something to do with me!’ cried Frisky Spekkum, and stood -quickly on her feet. - -“‘I will if you will be good,’ said the schoolma’am, and turned back -with a smile, and went on with the rules. ‘Rule third! Sit straight; -ears up; noses down; paws up!’ - -“They did so, though Frisky Spekkum would not hold her paws as high as -the others; and she frisked and caused the others to frisk. - -“‘When you have learned to make your bows and say good afternoon -properly you may go home,’ the schoolma’am said. They all made their -bows and said good afternoon properly, for all were anxious to go home, -and Frisky Spekkum did better than the others, for she was more anxious -to go home. - -“‘Now go,’ said the schoolma’am, ‘you are a troublesome set and I am -glad to be done with you. Scamper home.’ And they scampered home. - -[Illustration] - -“On their way home they saw a young rat walking out with his parents, -and went behind a wall and peeped through. They wanted the young rat but -did not like to touch him when his parents were with him. The young rat -was telling his parents of a beautiful shiny box with beautiful cheese -in it. His father said ‘My child, go not near that beautiful shiny box -nor touch that beautiful cheese.’ - -“The young rat did go to that beautiful shiny box and touch that -beautiful cheese and came near losing his life, as my story will soon -tell. - -“The three Spekkums went home to dinner, a very good dinner of milk and -herring. Their uncle Thomas was there and while they were at dinner a -kind girl presented every one of them with a neck ribbon. The Charcoals -and the Spekkums went out to play and Frisky Spekkum was naughty and -gnawed the others’ neck-ribbons and made them gnaw hers. Their mother -spoke to their uncle Thomas about it and he told Frisky that if she did -not behave he should have to send word to the rats to carry her away, as -they carried away Mab Fizz-Fuzz. She said she was not afraid. - -“The two Charcoals went to their uncle Thomas’ house to supper and the -four Spekkums stayed with their mother. When it was supper time their -mother said to them softly, ‘Follow me and I will give you something -good.’ - -“They followed her and she led them to the beautiful shiny box. - -“‘You see what is inside,’ said she, ‘jump quick, when I lift up the -door.’ - -[Illustration: - - Not Quick Enough. -] - -“The young rat was inside. He had eaten the beautiful cheese and wished -to stay no longer in the beautiful shiny box. He sprang out when the -door was lifted. The four Spekkums sprang after him. They were not quick -enough. He slipped through a rat-hole, though Frisky Spekkum was near -enough to claw his tail as it went through. He was so frightened he knew -not what he was doing and went straight into a bottle, and there was -something bad left in the bottle, and he would have died of that if a -friendly young frog had not found him. The young frog’s family and the -young rat’s family had been friends ever since one of the young frog’s -family saved the life of one of the young rat’s family, and that was a -long, long time before. It was before the Janjibo. - -[Illustration] - -“But all this belongs to another story and cannot be told now, for there -is yet more to tell of the Charcoals and the Spekkums. - -“One day their uncle Thomas put on his best clothes and his tall hat and -got a sleigh box and two pair of rabbits and invited the Charcoals’ and -Spekkums’ mother to go sleighing with him. Their mother smiled and -quickly put on her best clothes and her bonnet with flowers and got her -best muff. - -“The Charcoals and Spekkums all wanted to go, but their uncle Thomas -said so many would be too many for the rabbits and that he would take -three and take the other three next time. - -“They took three of the Spekkums and told Frisky Spekkum to stay and -wait with the two Charcoals and go next time. Their uncle Thomas then -helped their mother in, and took his seat, and the three Spekkums hopped -in behind and sat looking over the side as happy as they could be. Their -mother told them to hold on tight for their uncle Thomas would soon whip -up, and they might fall out. Their uncle Thomas whipped up and the -rabbits set off upon a gallop. - -“Just as they were setting off, Frisky Spekkum ran away from the two -Charcoals and climbed up behind the sleigh-box, and held on and tried to -get in, but the rabbits went so fast that she fell off and rolled over -and over. - -“She went back to play with the Charcoals, but she did not behave well. -She was too frisky with them. She bit ears, and she almost bit off the -two Charcoals’ neck-ribbons and made them bite off her neck ribbon and -was so frisky that one of the Charcoals would not play, and went away. -Frisky then took the other Charcoal with her into pantries and a hen -house and other places where cats ought never to go, and made her eat -with her thick cream, and custard pie, and other things which cats ought -never to eat. They also clawed a best carpet. - -“Their uncle Thomas came home and found them in a cheese and butter -closet, and they ran, and he ran and caught them by their tails and -punished them severely. - -[Illustration: - - Frisky Spekkum Tries to Steal a Ride. -] - -“This did not cure Frisky Spekkum. She was still too Frisky. She frisked -with tassels, she frisked with whip-lashes, she frisked with reins, she -frisked with flies she frisked with rabbits, she frisked with dogs’ -tails, she frisked with pigs’ tails. Her mother told her of Mab -Fizz-Fuzz who was carried off by her tail by the rats, and told her that -if she did not stop being too frisky then rats would have to be sent -for. But Frisky would not believe there ever was any Mab Fizz-Fuzz, and -would not stop being too frisky. Her mother spoke to her uncle Thomas -about it, and her uncle Thomas said her mother had better send her to -Goody Gumbo to be talked to. He said that as Goody Gumbo had been alive -ever since real pussys grew on pussy-willow trees, she would know how to -talk to her. - -[Illustration: - - In a Cheese and Butter Closet. -] - -“Frisky Spekkum was sent to Goody Gumbo to be talked to, but when the -talking began she made believe be deaf and not hear a word. Goody Gumbo -kept ear-trumpets for deaf ones and she gave Frisky a heavy ear-trumpet -and made her hold it till the talking was done. - -[Illustration: - - Goody Gumbo Talking to Frisky. -] - -“After she was talked to by Goody Gumbo, Frisky Spekkum was not too -frisky for a very long time. She played with the two Charcoals and the -other Spekkums, and behaved as well as any of them. They were all quiet -and happy, and Frisky was as quiet and happy as the others. When they -were playing together Frisky made no mischief with the tails of the -others. She behaved as well as the others. - -“This pleased their mother very much and she spoke to their uncle Thomas -about it. Their uncle Thomas said he did not believe that Frisky Spekkum -behaved as well as the two Charcoals and the other Spekkums. Their -mother told him to come and see. - -[Illustration: - - The Charcoals and the Speckkums on Their Good Behavior. -] - -“Their mother made them sit close together, in a row, with their ears -all turned the same way and their eyes all turned the same way, and -their tails all turned the same way around their fore paws, and Frisky -Spekkum sat so still that when their uncle Thomas came to see he could -not tell which one was Frisky. - -[Illustration] - -“Not long after this the same kind girl gave them all new neck-ribbons -and their mother said that as they had new neck-ribbons and Frisky had -stopped being too frisky, she would have a party. Then she thought it -would be a good plan to have them go to singing-school and learn -something to sing at the party. She spoke to their uncle Thomas about it -and their uncle Thomas said he would try their voices and find out which -had voices to sing. He tried their voices and found out that only one of -the Charcoals and two of the Spekkums had voices to sing. Frisky Spekkum -was not one of the two Spekkums that had voices to sing, and she did not -go to the singing-school. - -“The three that had voices to sing went to singing-school, and were put -in a row by themselves where they sat very still with their tails around -their fore paws as their mother and their uncle Thomas told them to, and -had their voices tried and were taught to sing the song of The Two -Tailed Mouse, every word of which was as true as cream. - -“The party was to be in a barn-room on account of a large basket of fish -and lobsters which had been placed there, and it was to be an evening -party. - -“Before it was time for the party to begin, the three who were to sing -the song of The Two Tailed Mouse, were told by their mother to go to the -barn-room and sit in a proper manner and sing the song until they could -sing it well enough to sing it at the party and please all who might -hear it. They obeyed her, and as Frisky Spekkum had not been too frisky -for a very long time, she was allowed to go and hear them sing, if she -would sit still. She sat still a great while, but hearing the singing -and looking much at the lobster-feelers made her want to be too frisky -and she frisked with the lobster-feelers, and went into the basket and -frisked with lobster claws, and gnawed them, and clawed them, and gnawed -and clawed some little fishes, and ate all she could of the fishes and -the lobsters, and made herself sick, and could not stay up at the party. -She had to go to bed in the haymow, and when she was asleep she dreamed -that her name was Mab Fizz-Fuzz, and that rats dragged her off by the -tail through a place that was too small. - -[Illustration] - -[Illustration: - - Frisky Spekkum’s Dream. -] - -“She woke up sorrowful. She was sorrowful long. She would not eat, she -would not run, she would not catch, she would not play with the two -Charcoals and the other Spekkums. Their mother spoke to their uncle -Thomas about it, and their uncle Thomas said he thought that dream would -do Frisky Spekkum good.” - - * * * * * - -“And that is the end of the story, your majesty,” said the lovely -Pussyanita. - -“End?” exclaimed the King. “It has no end. It leaves off short. Why does -it leave off short? Why does it not come to a proper end, namely, by the -way a cat’s tail does?” - -“Because, your majesty, it is not a common sense story,” replied the -lovely Pussyanita. “I told your majesty at the beginning your majesty -would not like a story that’s not a common sense story.” - -“I say I do like stories that are not common sense stories!” cried King -Grimalkum. “Common sense makes my head ache. Tell me another. Tell the -one you skipped; that about the Janjan’s.” - -“Your majesty means The Janjibo,” said Pussyanita. “That is the silliest -story that ever was.” - -“I have always wanted to hear the silliest story that ever was,” said -the King. “Tell it. And let it have an end, or you’ll be sorry.” - -The lovely Pussyanita bowed and began the Story of the Janjibo, and of -the Frog and the Rat. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -[Illustration: - - The Story of the Janjibo, and of the Frog and the Rat. -] - -[Illustration: - - Watching the Rat. -] - - -“Once upon a time, a long time ago, a family of rats made a home for -themselves in a haymow, and a good home it was. Corn, and potatoes, and -hayseed and other things were handy. With all these good things handy, -one of the young rats must needs walk into a trap. Two cats had long -been watching the family, and when they saw this young rat go towards -the trap, they sprang, and one of them caught him by the end of his tail -just as he was going in, and pulled him out, but he got away and ran -down-stairs, and the two cats after him, and at the bottom of the stairs -he ran into something with a big hole at the big end and a small hole at -the small end. He went in at the big hole, and the cats went in at the -big hole after him. He went out at the small hole. It was just big -enough for him to go through, and was not big enough for the cats to go -through, and they turned round quick, and got tangled up in each other, -and went out and went round outside and chased him, but the young rat -had jumped out of a window. He was so frightened that he ran, and ran, -and ran, across fields and hills, and got lost in a boggy swamp, and a -great snapping turtle would have snapped him up, if a young frog had not -begged the snapping turtle to let him live. The snapping turtle said he -would let him live if the young frog would take care of him. The young -frog said he would if his mother would be willing. The young frog’s -mother said he might take care of him if the young rat would promise not -to eat any tadpoles. - -[Illustration: - - In After Him. -] - -“The young rat promised not to eat any tadpoles, and the young frog took -care of him and they lived together, and played tag together, and -hide-and-seek together, and tiltered together, and did other things -together. When the frog hid he croaked for the rat to come and find him, -and when the rat hid he squealed for the frog to come and find him. When -the frog hid among the cat-o’-nine-tails, the young rat wouldn’t play; -and when they played tag, if the frog went among the cat-o’-nine-tails -the rat wouldn’t chase. When they played tilter, they had to tilt high -so that the frog’s legs need not touch the ground. - -“The young rat was happy, and had no wish to return to his family. He -went to all the frog concerts, and tried to get the frog tunes, but as -he could only squeak them, or squeal them, and could not croak them, he -could not get the frog tunes. - -[Illustration: - - They Had to Tilt High. -] - -“At last his family heard where he was, and begged his aunt to go fetch -him home, as she had no children, and could leave home as well as not. -His aunt said she would go as soon as news should come from the King of -the Cats. The King of the Cats was expected to die. He had caught a bad -cold wading for eels on a damp day, and had taken to his bed, and called -in Doctor Bowwow, and Doctor Bowwow had looked at his tongue and told -him he could not live. The young rat’s family begged his aunt to go -right off. She said she wished to wait and hear of the death of the King -of the Cats, for that would be good to hear. - -[Illustration] - -“As soon as word came that the King of the Cats was dead, the young -rat’s aunt set off to the far-off swamp, and found it, but by that time -the young rat had gone with the young frog to live on the edge of the -pond. She looked all through the swamp, and got her feet wet, and lost -her way, and tangled herself in the swamp-vines, and caught herself in a -swamp-vine string and could not get away, and there she stayed until the -day of the Wonderful News. - -“The Wonderful News was brought by a travelling kangaroo. As the young -rat and the frog were sitting one evening by the edge of the pond, a -kangaroo came leaping past, and stopped between two of his leaps and -said, ‘Wonderful News! Peace between the cats and the rats and mice! All -friends!’ and the kangaroo leaped on. - -[Illustration] - -“‘Wonderful news indeed!’ said the young rat. ‘I must let the water rats -know.’ - -“The frog said he would attend to that, and he got upon a log and -croaked, ‘Wonderful news! Peace between the cats and the rats and mice!’ - -“Other frogs heard him, and sat upon logs, stones, rocks and stumps, and -croaked, ‘Wonderful news! Peace between the cats and the rats and mice!’ -and other frogs heard these other frogs, and croaked the same, and the -great bull-frogs got hold of it and bellowed it, and frogs and -bull-frogs in other ponds and swamps and bogs heard it, and croaked it -and bellowed it, and before morning the Wonderful News was known to -every water rat far and near; and the water rats told the land rats as -quickly as they could. - -“The young rat’s aunt heard it in the swamp, and jumped hard and broke -the swamp-vine string, and set off on a gallop, this way and that way, -and the wrong way, and lost her way, and away she went. - -“The young rat said he must travel off somewhere and hear how it all -happened, and he and the frog set out together and travelled. Sometimes -the young rat let the frog ride on his back, because he could go faster -by runs than the frog could by leaps. The rat could not go frog-back, -because it was so hard to keep on. When they had travelled a long way -they met a mother rat, with her baby in her mouth, running as fast as -she could go. - -[Illustration] - -“The young rat asked her to stop and speak to him, and she stopped. The -young rat then asked the mother rat where she was going so fast, and the -mother rat said her baby was too sick to be left alone, and that she -could not stay away from the Janjibo, and she was carrying the baby to -stay at its grandfather’s till she should come back from the Janjibo. -The young rat asked her what there was to be a Janjibo for. - -“She asked him if he had not heard the ‘Wonderful News.’ He said he had, -and that he wished to know how it all happened. The mother rat then said -that if they would come to her baby’s grandfather’s, they could then go -with her to the Janjibo, and on the way there she would tell them how it -all happened. They went with her to her baby’s grandfather’s and then to -the Janjibo, and this is what the mother rat told.” - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -[Illustration: - - What the Mother Rat Told. -] - - -“After the King of the Cats died, and the King of the Cats’ son had been -made king, the rats and mice sent to ask if the cats and the rats and -mice could not be friends, so that there might be peace between them. -The new king said he did not think it would be a good plan at all, but -he would see what the dogs had to say about it, for dogs had the name of -knowing more than cats. He picked out three of his wisest cats, and sent -them to the dogs, and the dogs picked out two of their chief dogs, one -named Know and the other named Quick, and the two dogs and the three -cats met together. Quick asked Know what cats could live upon if they -did not eat rats, and mice. Know said that if cats should give up -catching, then people would feed them more. People kept from feeding -them so as to make them catch. - -[Illustration: - - The Wise Cats and Dogs. -] - -“The wisest of the three wise cats said that dogs were not expected to -catch; they were fed by people. - -“Know asked if it was great trouble to catch rats and mice. The next -wisest of the three cats said that if he should try it he would find -that it was much easier to eat off a plate, or even off the floor, than -to sit half the night in a cold barn, or cellar, or garret, tired and -hungry, watching rat-holes and mouse-holes. Quick asked if rat-holes and -mouse-holes could not be in rooms people lived in where it would be -pleasant for a cat to sit and watch. Know said that could not be, for -rats and mice did not like people as well as cats did. - -[Illustration: - - The Pledges of Good Faith. -] - -“The end of it all was that the dogs thought it would be a good thing -for the cats to be friends with the rats and mice, and a little bird -that heard all the talk told the Kangaroos. - -“In order to be sure that the cats and the rats and mice should do right -by each other, the dogs said that the rats must give up a baby rat to be -kept by the cats, and the cats must give up a baby cat to be kept by the -rats. This was done. The baby rat was youngest of a family of four -children, and the baby cat was the youngest of a family of four. The -dogs said this would make it even. - -“The three cats walked in procession with the baby in front, and their -oldest sister walked after them all, and the three rats walked in -procession with their baby in front and their oldest sister walked after -them all. But when they came in sight of each other, the rats were -afraid of the cats and went behind their oldest sister. The oldest -sister of the rats then took the baby cat in her mouth, and the cat -procession started, and when the oldest sister of the cats came to the -baby rat she took that in her mouth and then the rat procession started, -and both processions walked away, and the baby rat is now staying with -the cats, and the baby cat stays with the rats, and all is well. We do -not have to hide in holes and under floors and behind walls, and our -children will all live to grow up, unless they get sick from eating -poison, as my baby did. - -[Illustration] - -“And now that we are all friends, the cats and the rats and mice are -going to meet together and have a Janjibo, and there is to be fine music -and the tables are to be spread with everything nice. The dogs said that -as the rats and mice were the ones to ask to be friends they must be the -ones to bring things to eat, and they are working with all their might -to get ready the pies, and cakes, and jellies, and ice-creams, and nuts, -and sweet corn, and cheeses, and eggs, and dishes, and knives, and -forks, and spoons. We shall soon see them, for we are near the place -where the Janjibo is to be. - -“As the frog and the young rat and the mother rat came near the place -where the Janjibo was to be, they saw rats hurry skurrying as fast as -they could with cakes, pies, dishes and other things. They met gentlemen -rats in their best clothes, carrying knives, forks and spoons, and -looking everywhere for eggs. - -[Illustration: - - The Way the Egg Went Safely. -] - -“Three of these gentlemen rats in their best clothes, found an egg and -began to roll it. ‘We shall break it doing this way,’ said one to the -others. ‘I am afraid we shall,’ said the others, and they stopped to -think. The mother rat went to them and said: ‘The shells of eggs are too -thin. Shells of eggs should be thicker. - -“‘But I can tell you a way. Let one of you gentlemen lie flat on his -back and hold the egg with all four of his legs and let the other two -gentlemen draw that one by his tail; then the egg will go safe and the -gentleman will get a ride.’ - -[Illustration] - -“They did so. The gentleman rat that had the knife gave the knife to the -gentleman rat that had the fork and lay down flat on his back, and held -the egg in all four of his legs and the other two drew him by his tail -and the egg went safe and he got a ride. - -“Next came a lively young cat with a pudding-bag string. She said she -was frolicking with the rats and was running away with their pudding-bag -string. She said she did not care about the Janjibo. She did not care -about the peace. She wanted to have a good time. She did not know if she -should like to be friends with the rats and mice. Sometimes it was good -fun to catch them. - -[Illustration: - - The Cat Ran Away With the Pudding-Bag String. -] - -“The mother rat told her that she was very naughty, and the rats could -not do without their pudding-bag string and that she must carry it back -to them. She did not. She went dancing away with it. - -“Next came a great many rats with a pie so big they could hardly lift -it. They were afraid they should drop it, and they held it up with all -their might by their heads and their backs, and their shoulders. The -Pie-cutter with his knife came close behind. The young rat went to help. - -[Illustration: - - The Rats, the Pie and the Pie-Cutter. -] - -[Illustration: - - The Mother Rat Told the Pie-Cutter How to Cut It. -] - -“The frog said he should be willing to help, but he should have to go -with leaps, and going with leaps was not a good way to go with a pie. -The mother rat said to them, ‘You’d better set it down and cut it, and -then it will be all ready to be passed round. Set it down and cut it, -and you can rest while you are cutting it. Cut it first in large pieces, -and then cut the large pieces into small pieces. The pie must all be cut -in small pieces or there may not be enough to go round.’ They set it -down, and the mother rat told the Pie-cutter the right way to cut it, -and he cut it the right way. Just as the Pie-cutter had done cutting it, -the young rat looked at a light-colored rat that was among the other -ones, and said, ‘There’s my aunt.’ - -“It was his aunt. The one that was tangled in the swamp-vine string, and -broke it in jumping when she heard the Wonderful News, and got away, and -lost her way. She did not find the way she lost, but she found her way -to the Janjibo, and was helping. - -“‘So you are my nephew!’ she said. ‘How you have grown! Do you know that -the cats and the rats and mice are friends?’ - -“‘Oh yes,’ said the young rat. ‘A travelling kangaroo told me.’ - -“‘Friends indeed!’ said his aunt. ‘Look yonder. Do you see what is doing -yonder? That is your little brother. Perhaps you never knew that your -little brother could take pictures.’ - -“‘Never,’ said the young rat. ‘Can he?’ - -“‘Yes; he can,’ said his aunt. ‘Yonder he is now, taking the picture of -a Tabby. He has plenty to do. There is another close by, waiting for her -turn.’ - -“‘Why!’ cried the young rat. ‘They are the very same ones that chased me -when I was a little rat and made me run away!’ - -“‘Yes’ his aunt said. ‘They are friendly now. What are you going to do? -Do you want to help us get ready?’ - -[Illustration] - -“‘I do,’ said the young rat. - -“‘Step in here then,’ said his aunt. ‘Step in to this Ice-cream Place, -and stir up the ice-cream. Stir it up with your fore paws.’ They two -stepped into the Ice-cream Place, and the young rat’s aunt showed him -how to stir up the ice-cream with his fore paws. While he was doing this -a cat peeped through the door at him. His aunt thought by the looks of -the cat’s eye that it was a cat that had not heard of the peace. - -“She was so afraid the cat did not know of the peace and would eat the -young rat that she caught hold of his tail quick and pulled him with all -her might and they ran out of the Ice-cream Place by two rat-holes. The -mother rat and the frog were waiting for the young rat and he travelled -on with them. - -[Illustration: - - Afraid He Had Not Heard of the Peace. -] - -“That cat would not have hurt the young rat. She did know of the peace -and she was gathering up rats for the Janjibo. The young rat and the -frog and the mother rat saw her afterwards showing a great many rats -that had come from afar, the way into the Janjibo and even taking up the -tired ones in her mouth and carrying them in. - -[Illustration: - - Taking Up the Tired Ones in Her Mouth. -] - -“Three young kittens sat watching her while they waited for their -mother. They were dressed in their best clothes and white gloves, all -ready to dance a jig at the Janjibo. - -“They were waiting for their mother to go in with them. Their mother -taught them the jig and she was coming to fiddle for them to dance. They -were in a hurry for her to come because they were afraid of a fierce -black rat who stood near by with his gun. The fierce black rat had been -ordered to stand there with his gun to keep off the rabbits. The rabbits -had been heard to say they did not like the peace between the cats and -the rats and mice, and that they meant to break it up, and meant to -break up the Janjibo. - -[Illustration: - - The Sentinel. -] - -“As soon as the mother rat and the frog and the young rat went into the -Janjibo, the mother rat met with her oldest daughter, just from home, -and she kept with her mother and the young rat was polite to her. - -“A very great number came to the Janjibo. The supper was good, and after -supper the ones who could tell stories told stories, and the ones who -could sing songs, sang songs, and the ones who could talk, talked. A -mouse with a lame hind leg said she hoped all cats would know of the -peace and told a Spinning Story. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -[Illustration: - - A Spinning Story. -] - - -“She said that one day when she and her sisters sat spinning in the -barn, a cat looked in at the window. They did not run, for why should -they run when cats and mice were friends? The cat that was looking in -the window had not heard of the peace and she jumped at them. Then they -ran but she and one of her sisters did not run quick enough, and her -sister was bitten in the head and she herself was bitten in the hind -leg, and made lame for life. - -“Three blind and feeble mice without any tails then told the Blind Mice -Story. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -[Illustration: - - The Blind Mice Story. -] - -[Illustration] - - -“They were born blind, and were obliged to find their way by their -noses. A farmer’s wife had been giving corn to the hens and some of the -corn was left in her pocket, and they smelled the corn and ran after the -farmer’s wife, and she cut off their tails with a carving knife. Now -they could not run very fast, for no rat can run fast unless he feels -his tail behind him. - -“A cat of the name of Henry, said this story made him think of the -Air-Ball Story. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -[Illustration: - - The Air-Ball Story. -] - -[Illustration] - - -“Three kittens, Faw, Sol, and Law, were once playing in a yard when a -short boy named Chickerchecker came and tied air-balls to their tails so -that he might have the fun of seeing the air-balls take Faw, Sol, and -Law up in the air. - -“When Faw, Sol, and Law began to feel the back ends of themselves going -up they did not know what to do to keep them down and they mewed and -mewed and stuck the claws of their fore paws into the ground. -Chickerchecker was much pleased. - -[Illustration] - -“Their mother was the other side of the wall and near enough to hear -them mew. She knew that if they mewed so, something was the matter. She -sprang to the top of the wall and looked over and when she saw what had -been done she was very angry, and jumped down, and took the air-balls -off of Faw, Sol, and Law’s tails and tied them to Chickerchecker, and -Chickerchecker went over the wall and blew into a tree. - -“Faw, Sol, and Law were so much pleased that they danced up and down. -Their mother also was much pleased. - -“At the end of this story the singing Tommies sang the funny song of the -Bold Young Fishbone and the Gay Young Wishbone. - -“It began with - - There was a bold young Fishbone, - Finnery, finnery fi! - There was a gay young Wishbone, - Winnery, winnery, wi! - -and ended in the same manner. - -[Illustration] - -“The singing Tommies had new jackets and trousers and new gloves, as of -course any singers would have who were to sing at a Janjibo. - -“After this song and others were sung the kittens who came to dance a -jig, danced it. Their mother played the fiddle well, and they danced -their steps well and gave much pleasure to all present. All present were -happy in the peace and no doubt the peace would have lasted to this day -if the rabbits and the hens had not broken it up. - -“The rabbits and the hens did not like the peace. The rabbits said that -cats must eat and if they did not eat rats and mice they must eat -rabbits. The hens said that if no rats were eaten they would every one -live to grow up and would eat all the corn and the hens and other fowl -would wear themselves out scratching for worms. They said they should -like to get hold of the frogs, for if the frogs had kept still, so many -rats would not have heard the Wonderful News. - -[Illustration: - - They Danced Their Steps Well. -] - -“The rabbits said they did not believe the Lion knew of the peace and -they meant to send him word and ask him to stop it. The cats would have -to do whatever he should say, for the Lion was the head of their family -besides being king of all the animals. - -[Illustration] - -“The cat that ran away with the Pudding-Bag String was known to think -not very well of the peace and she was asked to go and speak to the -Lion. She said she would go, but must first borrow her grandmother’s -boots of swiftness. Her grandmother was just taking her tea and felt -very well. She said she was not using her boots and was willing to lend -them if they could be taken good care of. The cat that ran away with the -Pudding Bag String put them on and went to speak to the Lion. - -[Illustration] - -“The Lion said the peace was the funniest thing he ever heard of, and -made him almost die a laughing. He told the cat that ran away with the -Pudding Bag String to tell the cats there never could be peace between -the cats and the rats and mice, and never should be so long as Lions -were Lions, and to tell the rabbits and the hens and other fowl to break -up the Janjibo. - -[Illustration: - - The Frog Going Ratback. -] - -“As soon as the rabbits and hens and other fowl heard this they got -together from all parts and went leaping and running and flying into the -Janjibo, crying ‘No peace! No peace! The Lion says no peace.’ The hens -cackled it, the roosters crowed it, the geese squawked it, the turkeys -gobbled it, the guinea fowl squalled it, the peacocks screamed it, and -the Janjibo was broken up and the rats and mice ran away quick, for if -there was no peace they were in dreadful danger. - -“The young rat was in a hurry to get away from the cats, and the frog -was in a hurry to get away from the hens and other fowl. The young rat -said that as he could go faster by runs than the frog could by leaps, he -would take the frog ratback. The frog threw on a hat and cloak to hide -himself, as he had to sit high, in plain sight, and got on the young -rat’s back, and they went so swift that the frog lost his hat off -behind. - -“The mother rat and her daughter kept as near them as they could. When -the young rat grew tired he begged the frog to whip him and make him go -fast, for he would rather be whipped than be caught by the cats. - -“He was not caught. They both reached their home at the edge of the -pond, and left that home no more. The young rat married the mother rat’s -daughter, and they had many children, and the frog married the frog he -loved best, and had a large family of little tadpoles, and the little -tadpoles played with the little rats and the little rats played with the -little tadpoles, and the little rats told rat stories, and the little -tadpoles told tadpole stories, and they all lived happily all their -lives.” - - * * * * * - -“And that is the end of the story, your majesty,” said the lovely -Pussyanita. “And a good end,” said King Grimalkum. “I knew I should like -the story. Is it truly the silliest story that ever was?” “Yes, your -majesty,” replied Pussyanita. “The silliest, I mean, of our kind of -stories. Of course it is not as silly as the stories the little tadpoles -told the little rats.” - -“Were the stories the little tadpoles told the little rats, sillier than -the ones the little rats told the little tadpoles?” asked the king. - -“Much sillier,” replied Pussyanita. - -“Tell them,” said the king. - -“But your majesty,” replied Pussyanita, “there were swarms of little -tadpoles and I have not long to live.” - -“You shall live as long as you can, you lovely creature!” cried the -king. “Do you think I would put an end to the life of a sweet young -story-teller who can tell both common sense stories and not common sense -stories? No! Live! Live and be happy!” - -“Alas!” replied the lovely Pussyanita. “I cannot be happy when so many -of my kind are in danger. Oh, take back your cruel command! Let our -whole race live!” - -“I do take it back,” answered the king. “For your sake the whole race -shall live.” - - * * * * * - -The cruel command was taken back. The whole race of cats were allowed to -live. Those which were “white, or yellow, or which had more white or -yellow hairs than dark ones,” all these as well as the “black, Maltese -and gray,” were for Pussyanita’s sake allowed to live. - - * * * * * - -“Here, uncle Fred, is your Cats’ Arabian Nights Story Book,” said cousin -Lucia, “all ready for the children when they shall come next summer with -their fathers and mothers; and I hope they will have as much fun in -hearing it as I had in writing it.” - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - ● Transcriber’s Notes: - ○ Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected. - ○ Typographical errors were silently corrected. - ○ Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only - when a predominant form was found in this book. - ○ Text that: - was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_). - - - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CATS' ARABIAN NIGHTS, OR, -KING GRIMALKUM *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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