Concerning Still Other Peoples Cats 



its character is independence. It dwells under our 

 roofs, sleeps by our fire, endures our blandishments, 

 and apparently enjoys our society, without for one 

 moment forfeiting its sense of absolute freedom, with- 

 out acknowledging any servile relation to the human 

 creature who shelters it. 



"Rude and masterful souls resent this fine self- 

 sufficiency in a domestic animal, and require that it 

 shall have no will but theirs, no pleasure that does 

 not emanate from them. 



" Yet there are people, less magisterial, perhaps, or 

 less exacting, who beUeve that true friendship, even 

 with an animal, may be built up on mutual esteem 

 and independence ; that to demand gratitude is to be 

 unworthy of it ; and that obedience is not essential 

 to agreeable and healthy intercourse. A man who 

 owns a dog is, in every sense of the word, its master : 

 the term expresses accurately their mutual relations. 

 But it is ridiculous when applied to the limited pos- 

 session of a cat. I am certainly not Agrippina's 

 mistress, and the assumption of authority on my part 

 would be a mere empty dignity, like those swelling 

 titles which afford such innocent delight to the Free- 

 masons of our severe republic. 



" How many times have I rested tired eyes on her 

 graceful httle body, curled up in a ball and wrapped 

 round with her tail like a parcel; or stretched out 

 luxuriously on my bed, one paw coyly covering her 

 face, the other curved gently inwards, as though clasp- 



71 



