The Book of Cats. 187 



Gottfried Heller, in Die Leute von Seldwyla, tells 

 a droll story. This is an abridgement of a popular 

 author's version of it, published some years 

 ago:— 



" One day, once upon a time, or thereabouts, the 

 witch-finder of a certain Swiss town — himself 

 secretly a wizard — was taking his afternoon's walk, 

 when he came across a Tom Cat, looking very thin 

 and miserable. This Cat had once been the chief 

 favourite of a rich old lady, who had trained him 

 up in luxurious living. Now she was dead, and 

 Tom's happy days were over : he was as shaggy 

 and meagre, as he had formerly been sleek and 

 plump. Now, you must know that Cats' grease 

 was, in those days, an invaluable ingredient for 

 certain magical preparations, provided the Cat to 

 whom it belonged willingly made a donation of it. 

 This proviso rendered good efficient Cats' grease 

 an exceedingly rare commodity ; for though there 

 might be no great difficulty in finding a fat Cat, to 

 find one willing to part with its fat was, of course, 

 difficult enough. 



" Here, however, was an animal in desperate cir- 

 cumstances, who might be accessible to reason ; 

 therefore, says the magician — 



" ' How much will you take for your fat V 



