February 22nd was Cat Day in
Japan. Because the number two is
pronounced “Ni”in Japanese, and cats are said to say ”Nyaa” or “Niyan”, someone
had the bright idea of making it a special day for our feline friends. Someone else had the idea of turning the “Ni”
sound into Ninja Day, but we’ll ignore that this time.
Perhaps you ate an onigiri shaped like a cat’s
head to celebrate. Perhaps you went to a
cat cafe to pet the creatures. Perhaps
you ate a burger made of cat meat instead.
I hope not.
Anyway, I like cats. So to mark the occasion I have edited
part of a story by Rudyard Kipling. He
explains why cats have retained an independent spirit and don’t always do what
people tell them to, unlike dogs.
An edited extract from “The cat that walked
by himself”, first published in “Just so stories” (1902) by Rudyard Kipling:
This happened when the tame animals were
wild. The dog was wild, and the horse
was wild, and the pig and sheep were wild.
But the wildest of all the wild animals was the cat. He walked by himself and all places were alike
to him.
Man and woman were wild too, until they
made a fire in a cave for the first time.
Out in the wet, wild woods, all of the wild
animals gathered together where they could see the fire and they wondered what
it meant.
Then the wild horse stamped his foot
and said, “Oh my friends, and oh my enenies: Why have the man and the woman
made that great light in that great cave, and what harm will it do us?
The wild dog smelled the smell of cooking
meat on the fire and said, “I will go up and look and see and say, for I think
it is good. Cat, come with me.”
“Nay.
I am the cat who walks by himself and all places are alike to me. I will not come.”
“Then we can never be friends again,” said
the dog. And he ran off to the cave.
But when he had gone a little way, the cat
said to himself, “All places are alike to me.
Why should I not go and see and look, and come away again as I please?” So he slipped after wild dog, softly, and hid
himself where he could hear everything.
The wild dog smelled the cooking meat, and
it smelled delicious. He pushed open the
skin covering the entrance to the cave.
Inside he saw the woman cooking the meat.
The woman said, “Wild thing out of the wild
woods: Help my man to hunt during the day, and guard this cave at night, and I
will give you as many bones from this cooked meat as you need.
“Ah,” said the cat listening. “This is a very wise woman. But she is not as wise as I am.”
Wild dog crawled into the cave and laid his
head on the woman’s lap and said, “Oh my friend, and wife of my friend: I will
help your man to hunt through the day.
And at night I will guard your cave.”
“Ah,” said the cat, listening. “That is a very foolish dog.”
Vocabulary:
to mark something – to make note of or
celebrate something like a birthday or anniversary
tame – of an
animal, not wild; domesticated or safe
alike – the same
to stamp – to put one’s foot down hard
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