Two on Cats
Yes, it is strange that anyone should dislike cats. But cats themselves are the worst offenders in this respect. They very seldom seem to like one another.~C.S. Lewis, Letters to an American Lady, (Letter of July 31, 1962)
"It's a lion, I know it's a lion," thought Shasta. "I'm done. I wonder will it hurt much. I wish it was over. I wonder does anything happen to people after they're dead. O-o-oh! Here it comes!" And he shut his eyes and his teeth tight.
But instead of teeth and claws he only felt something warm lying down at his feet. And when he opened his eyes he said, "Why, it's not nearly as big as I thought! It's only half the size. No, it isn't even quarter the size. I do declare it's only the cat!! I must have dreamed all that about its being as big as a horse."
And whether he really had been dreaming or not, what was now lying at his feet, and staring him out of countenance with its big, green, unwinking eyes, was the cat; though certainly one of the largest cats he had ever seen.
"Oh, Puss," gasped Shasta. "I am so glad to see you again. I've been having such horrible dreams." And he at once lay down again, back to back with the cat as they had been at the beginning of the night. The warmth from it spread all over him.
"I'll never do anything nasty to a cat again as long as I live," said Shasta, half to the cat and half to himself. "I did once, you know. I threw stones at a half-starved mangy old stray. Hey! Stop that." For the cat had turned round and given him a scratch. "None of that," said Shasta. "It isn't as if you could understand what I'm saying." Then he dozed off.
~C.S. Lewis, The Horse and His Boy, (1954)
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On this day:
1922 Lewis takes a "First" in Literae Humaniores ("Greats") - classical philosophy
(A Year With C.S. Lewis)
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Totally gratuitous pet pics today!
Ahhhh.... :-)
Our boys were very fond of each other, especially as they got older (there were certain "incidents" when they were younger). I know that's not always the case.
It's nice to see that Lewis seemed to like cats. It makes me even fonder of him :-)
I was surprised to learn that Lewis had a Siamese! I guess it was a gift to his wife, and he kept it after she died. He mentions (in the letter previous to the one that I quoted) that he was ruled by the cat: it talked to him all the time and was very insistent on having doors and windows opened 1,000 times a day.
I've never been very fond of cats, myself. Though, in my defence, they aren't usually very fond of me, either. The one exception being the calico kitten that my mom had when I was younger. She used to ride around on my shoulder like a parrot.
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