THE CAT: 



To a Cat which had Killed a Bird 



O cat in semblance, but in heart akin 

 To canine raveners, whose ways are sin , 

 Still at my hearth a guest thou dar'st to be ? 

 Unwhipt of Justice, hast no dread of me? 

 Or deem'st the sly allurements shall avail 

 Of purring throat and undulating tail? 

 No ! as to pacify Patroclus dead, 

 Twelve Trojans by P elides' sentence bled, 

 So shall thy blood appease the feathery shade, 

 And for one guiltless life shall nine be paid. 



Agathias, Translation of Richard Garnett 



41 



