CHAPTER XV 



CONCERNING KITTENS 



SAYS Moncrif of cats, and especially of kittens: 

 " Everything that moves serves to amuse them. 

 They are convinced that Nature is occupied solely 

 with their diversion ; they do not conceive of any 

 other cause for motion ; and when by our movements 

 we incite them to graceful tumbling, may it not be 

 that they take us merely for pantomimists, all of 

 whose actions are jokes ? " 



It is difficult for even those who profess to detest 

 cats to resist the insinuating grace and cajoleries of 

 the kitten. It takes life as such a huge joke, and 

 the affairs of this earth as simply a series of sports 

 designed especially for its own amusement. And 

 the cat-lover finds literally no end of amusement in 

 watching the development of the frisky and wholly 

 irresponsible ball of animated fur into a dignified, 

 intelligent cat — like Thomas Erastus, for instance, 

 who guards the entire neighborhood like a watchdog, 

 and who bears on his stately shoulders the care and 

 responsibilities of a small universe of blundering, 

 overgrown human beings. 



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