THE LIFE OF MAMMALS 
“However mysterious and informal may have been her birth, Pussy’s 
first appearance in veracious history is a splendid one. 
More than three 
thousand years ago she dwelt serenely by the Nile, and the great nation 
A Cat MUMMY AND ITS CASE, 
“T was a little Egyptian cat, 
Meouw, Meouw, Meouw ! 
I lived in King Pharaoh’s palace, I did. 
The rats and the mice, I would chase with delight; 
I often caught birds, which I know wasn’t right; 
And, instead of a fence, I would sit up all night 
And meouw on the top of the Pyramid. 
“But one day I was greedy and ate seven mice, 
Meouw, Meouw, Meouw ! 
So I had a bad fit, and I died, I did! 
Then they hurried and made me this beautiful 
case, 
It covers me all, just excepting my face, 
And they put me away in a nice quiet place, 
On a shelf right inside of the Pyramid. 
“And there have I been for these thousands of 
years, 
Meouw, Meouw, Meouw / 
And I hoped to lie hidden forever, I did. 
But they hunted me out and they brought me 
away, — 
Oh, isn’t it horrid that I have to stay 
In a dusty museum here, day after day, 
When I want to go back to my Pyramid ! 
Meouw, Meouw, Meouw !” 
of antiquity paid her respectful 
homage. Sleek and beautiful, she 
drowsed in the shadow of mighty 
temples, or sat blinking and wash- 
ing her face with contemptuous 
disregard alike of priest and peo- 
ple. There is no mention of her 
in Holy Writ; but when Moses 
led the Children of Israel into the 
desert, she watched him go — 
‘With somber sea-green gaze in- 
scrutable.’ 
Deserts, indeed, offered scant 
allurement to her. No wander- 
ing people have ever enjoyed her 
sweet companionship. The Arabs 
loved and valued her; but could 
do no more than carry her across 
the trackless sands for the enrich- 
ment of softer homes than their 
black tents could offer. 
‘And the bubbling camels beside 
the load 
Sprawled for a furlong adown the 
road; 
And the Persian pussy cats, brought 
for sale, 
Spat at the dogs from the camel- 
bale.’ 
“Egypt, as the granary of the 
ancient world, had especial need 
for Pussy’s services, and the Egyp- 
tian cat was a mighty hunter, 
not only of rats and mice, — ancestral prey, — but of wildfowl caught in 
reedy marshes, and in shallow waters where she could swim with ease. 
Her sacred character was in no wise impaired by her usefulness. 
134 
She was 
