I have edited James Thurber’s story quite a
lot to make it easier for non-native speakers to enjoy. But the original is freely available to download
from the Gutenberg Library. So, if you
are interested, please take a look for the original.
To understand the story, you have to know
that during a disaster at sea, the crew are traditionally expected to save the
Women and children first.
An edited version of, “The Cat in the
Lifeboat” by James Thurber. Full version
published in “Further fables for our time” (1956).
A feline named William got a job in
a newspaper office. He soon found out
that he was the only cat named William in town and confused this fact with distinction. It got so that whenever he heard the name
William, he thought that it referred to him.
His fantasies grew wilder and wilder and he came to believe that he was
the “Willy” in “willy-nilly”.
He became so lost in his daydreams that he
never did anything at work.
“You’re fired!” said his editor one day
when William showed up for dreams.
“God will provide,” replied William,
brightly.
William went to live with a cat crazy woman
who had nineteen other cats but they couldn’t stand William’s egotism or
tall tales and so they all left the woman’s house. The cat crazy woman changed her will
and made William her sole heir, which seemed natural to him.
“I am eight feet tall,” William told her
one day.
She smiled and replied, “I should say you
are. And I’m going to take you on a trip
around the world and show you off to everybody.”
William and his mistress sailed on a ship
which ran into high seas and hurricane.
S.O.S. calls were made, rockets were fired into the sky and the officers
began running up and down shouting, “Abandon ship!”
And then another shout arose, which seemed
only natural to the egotistical cat. It
was, his vain ears told him, the loud repetition of, “William and
children first.”
Since, William figured, no lifeboat would
be launched until he was safe and sound, he dressed leisurely and then sauntered
out on deck. He leapt lightly into a
lifeboat that was being lowered.
“Toss that cat overboard,” cried the sailor
in charge of the lifeboat and William was thrown overboard.
When he came to in the icy water,
with his remaining strength he swam to an island inhabited by surly
lions, tigers and other great cats.
As William lay panting on the shore,
a jaguar and lynx walked up to him and asked him who he was and where he came
from. Unfortunately, William’s dreadful
experience had produced a traumatic amnesia and he could not remember
who he was or where he came from.
“We’ll call him nobody,” said the jaguar.
“Nobody from nowhere,” replied the lynx.
And so William lived amongst the great cats
on the island until he lost his life in a bar-room brawl with a young
panther who had asked him who he was and where he came from and got what he
considered an uncivil answer.
Vocabulary:
a feline – A member of the cat family of
animals
distinction – Uniqueness; being special
egotism – Arrogance; A belief in one’s own
importance
a tall tale – An exaggerated story, or one
which is not completely true
a will – A document which states how you
would like your money or property divided after your death
an heir – A person who will inherit
someone’s property or money after their death
eight feet - One foot equals 30.48 cm
to abandon something – To leave something
to abandon something – To leave something
to be vain – To be self-admiring
to saunter – To walk in a casual manner
to come to – To regain consciousness
to be surly – To be bad-tempered; rude
to pant – To breathe in and out very
quickly
amnesia – Loss of memory
a brawl – A fight
to be uncivil – To be rude
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