Certain Cat Characteristics 



looked detestable. But if it was anger or hatred, — 

 and Princess was a good hater, — her head flattened 

 like a snake's, her jaw took the lines of a tiger's in 

 miniature, and she had the face of a devil. There 

 were other emotions which she expressed not less 

 vividly: eagerness in pursuit of prey, for she was a 

 great mouser, and soon cleared the house of mice 

 and kept the gardens free of moles: here there 

 was nothing savage, only a look of intense keenness, 

 alertness, and pleasure: wistfulness, as when she 

 wandered around the outside of the house in win- 

 ter, looking for an open door or window : despair 

 when her kittens were taken from her, or when she 

 saw the preparations for a journey in my room : con- 

 tentment, when she lay on the table in the evening 

 between her master and mistress, her paws tucked 

 under her, her eyes half closed, her small pink mouth 

 half opened, showing her little white teeth in a genu- 

 ine smile. It was not the mere cosey, comfortable 

 aspect of the ordinary cat: it was a look of beati- 

 tude. We never called any one's attention to the 

 smile, not wishing to be set down as idiots, but friends 

 occasionally discovered it for themselves and ex- 

 claimed upon it. I have noted that many cats 

 smile: they do not grin like a dog or a horse some- 

 times does, but they smirk for half an hour together. 

 Some cats have a strong sense of fun, and are practi- 

 cal jokers, like monkeys. Princess and Czarina had 

 this quality notably, and their faces expressed it, but 



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