Recently I have been reading Natsume Soseki’s classic novel, “I am a Cat”. The narrator – a nameless cat – makes many observations about life and human society. Here are a few I have picked out.
1 – On sleep. What does a housecat, who sits about most of the day napping have to say about his tendency to sleep more than the humans around him?
“If the Creator should take the line that I am born to work and not to sleep, I would agree that I am indeed born to work but I would also make the unanswerable point that I cannot work unless I also rest. Even my master, that timid but complaining [cranky teacher], sometimes though it costs him money, takes a weekday off. I am no human cog. I am a cat, a being sensitive to the most subtle shades of thought and feeling. Naturally, I tire more quickly than my master. Naturally, I need more sleep.”
2 – On teachers. This cat’s master is an English teacher, and the cat observes him closely. What is his opinion of the honoured teaching profession?
“There are times when even I, a mere cat, can put two thoughts together. Teachers have it easy. If you are born a human, it's best to become a teacher. For if it's possible to sleep this much and still to be a teacher, why, even a cat could teach" However, according to the master, there's nothing harder than a teacher's life...”
3 – On making fun of others. This cat’s master and his friends, especially Waverhouse, spend much time teasing each other and making fun of their neighbors and acquaintances. What does a cat, a solitary creature by nature, make of this human habit?
“No matter how skilled the teaser, his efforts will be wasted if the teasee happens to be as dull (or as intelligent) as a camel. Of course, should the victim happen to be as inordinately strong as a lion or a tiger, the teaser will quickly find himself involved in the yet more total disappointment of being ripped to shreds.”
4 – On dreams. If our dreams reveal our secret desires, what does a cat dream of?
“There came an afternoon when, taking my usual snooze on the veranda, I dreamt I was a tiger. “Bring me,” I growl at my master, “buckets brimming with chicken meat,” which he, crawling toward me in a pleasing tremble of terror, immediately supplied. Waverhouse then appeared and I promptly snarl, “Get yourself down to the Wild Goose Restaurant, for I want, and you shall fetch, goose flesh of the best.”
5 – On philosophy. What are the limits to an observant cat’s knowledge?
“True. I know almost everything about almost everything. Perhaps the only thing I don't know all about is the real extent of my own foolishness. But even on that, I can make a pretty good guess.”
Vocabulary:
the Creator – God; the creator of the universe
to take the line that… - to argue or maintain that…
to be cranky – to be irritable, or to have a difficult personality
a mere (cat) – a humble (cat); just a (cat)
to be dull – to be unintelligent or slow-witted
inordinately – extremely
to be ripped to shreds – literally, to be destroyed and left in pieces, like a sheet of paper which is repeatedly torn by hand
a snooze – a light nap
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