Concerning Some Historic Cats 



"This result attained, the next proceeding of 

 Madame Th6ophile was to jump oif the table from 

 which she had made her observations, and lay herself 

 flat on the ground in a corner of the room, exactly in 

 the attitude of the panther in Ger6me's picture watch- 

 ing the gazelles as they come down to drink at a lake. 

 The parrot followed the movements of the cat with 

 feverish anxiety : it ruffled its feathers, rattled its 

 chain, lifted one of its feet and shook the claws, and 

 rubbed its beak against the edge of its trough. In- 

 stinct told it that the cat was an enemy and meant 

 mischief. The cat's eyes were now fixed upon the 

 bird with fascinating intensity, and they said in per- 

 fectly intelligible language, which the poor parrot dis- 

 tinctly understood, 'This chicken ought to be good 

 to eat, although it is green.' We watched the scene 

 with great interest, ready to interfere at need. 

 Madame Thdophile was creeping nearer and nearer 

 almost imperceptibly; her pink nose quivered, her 

 eyes were half closed, her contractile claws moved 

 in and out of their velvet sheaths, slight thrills of 

 pleasure ran along her backbone at the idea of the 

 meal she was about to make. Such novel and exotic 

 food excited her appetite. 



"All in an instant her back took the shape of 

 a bent bow, and with a vigorous and elastic bound 

 she sprang upon the perch. The parrot, seeing its 

 danger, said in a bass voice as grave and deep as 

 M. Prudhomme's own, ' As tu d^jeun6, Jacquot ? ' 



93 



