THE CAT TRIUMPHANT 127 



in the shade. When she died, her little body was 

 carefully embalmed ; and travellers who visited 

 Arqua, and the poet's home, hidden among the 

 Euganean Hills, have stared and mocked and won- 

 dered at this poor semblance of cathood, this fur- 

 less, withered mummy, which, more than five hun- 

 dred years ago, frolicked softly in the joyousness 

 of youth. Upon the marble slab on which she lay 

 were cut two epigrams by Antonius Ouserengus, 

 one of which gracefully commemorated the rival 

 passions that shared Petrarch's heart. " Maximus 

 ignis ego ; Laura secundus erat." Doubtless of 

 these conflicting emotions, the more simple and 

 sincere was the poet's affection for his cat. 



As we search for Pussy's records in literature, 

 that we may better trace her half-hidden history 

 through several centuries of fluctuating fortunes, 

 we find that the striking of the personal note in- 

 variably heralds a growing appreciation and esteem. 

 When she figures in folk-lore, she is unsanctified 

 and maleficent, a candidate for " the uncharitable 

 votes of Hell." In proverbs, she serves as an illus- 

 tration of characteristics without charm, and of wis- 

 dom without distinction. In fable, she — or he — 

 is, for the most part, a clever hypocrite, the Rami- 

 nagrobis of La Fontaine, the Tybert of " Reineke 

 Fuchs." This latter rascal, if less sanctimonious 

 than the cJiatcmite, or than the austere hermit of 



