II 



THE CAT 



I. Its Antiquitv 



The cat, which is to-day, with the dog, the 

 domestic animal par excellence, had its epoch of 

 glory in past ages, when the ancient Egyptians 

 declared it sacred, when a city called Bubastis 

 was dedicated to its race, when the goddess 

 Bast (or Pasche) had the head of a cat, when 

 the bodies of cats were made into mummies, 

 and when whoever killed a cat was severely 

 punished. That was the golden age of cats ; 

 and although their city, placed between the 

 two arms of the Nile above the present town 

 of Ben-el-Asi (on the line of the Cairo railway), 

 is now a frightful mass of ruins, thousands of 

 pilgrims — Herodotus speaks of seven hundred 

 thousand — once went there annually to the fes- 

 tivals established in honor of cats. At Cairo 

 a vestige of this veneration still remains, for 

 lately a large sum of money was provided for 

 the feeding of hungry cats ; and the pilgrims 

 to Mecca are still accompanied by a "Mother 

 of Cats" or " Father of Cats," charged with 

 the care of a certain number of these animals 

 during the pilgrimage. 



Among the Greeks and Romans also the cat 

 enjoyed a very great reputation, especially after 

 the rat (inns ra/tiis), coming probably from Asia, 

 made its way into the dwellings and granaries 

 of Europe. The Norsemen introduced it into 

 their mythology, for two of these animals draw 

 the chariot of the goddess Fridja. This venera- 

 tion lasted into the Middle Ages, at which period 



there was exhibited at Aix in Provence the 

 handsomest male cat that could be procured ; 

 it was dressed as a bab\-, and seated in a mag- 

 niticent armchair, where all believers solemnly 

 worshiped it as the Elected One. 



But after a while the glory of cats began to 

 tarnish. They came to be regarded as evil 

 doers, and every sorcerer and sorceress was 

 accompanied by a cat — preferably a black one. 

 This change was naturally not to their com- 

 fort. They were still tolerated here and there, 

 and even in the churches. In Saxony, for in- 

 stance, nuns were forbidden to have any other 

 animals ; but elsewhere, in Metz, for example, 

 they were publicly burned by the dozen at the 

 festival of St. John. In the Flemish town of 

 Spres it was long the custom to fling them 

 from the top of a lofty tower on the " Wednes- 

 day of the Cats "; and though it is said that a 

 cat always falls on her feet, there were many 

 sad exceptions to the rule on those days. The 

 " Wednesday of the Cats " always fell in the 

 second week of Lent ; this custom dated from 

 the year 962, when Baldwin III, Count of 

 Flanders, established it as an annual celebra- 

 tion. In 1 23 I the tower of Lakenhal was fin- 

 ished and the cats were thrown from there as 

 well as from the tower of the old castle. In 

 1674 the custom was abolished, but it was 

 restored in 17 14; and it is said that cats were 

 still being hurled from the towers of Spres in 

 1S68. 



73 



