A most important personage in feline history is the King of the
Cats. He may be in your house a common looking fellow enough, with
no distinguishing mark of exalted rank about him, so that it is very
difficult to verify his genuine claims to royalty. Therefore the best
way is to cut off a tiny little bit of his ear. If he is really the
royal personage, he will immediately speak out and declare who he is;
and perhaps, at the same time, tell you some very disagreeable truths
about yourself, not at all pleasant to have discussed by the house cat.
A man once, in a fit of passion, cut off the head of the domestic
pussy, and threw it on the fire. On which the head exclaimed, in a
fierce voice, “Go tell your wife that you have cut off the head of the
King of the Cats; but wait! I shall come back and be avenged for this
insult,” and the eyes of the cat glared at him horribly from the fire.
And so it happened; for that day year, while the master of the house
was playing with a pet kitten, it suddenly flew at his throat and bit
him so severely that he died soon after.
A story is current also, that one night an old woman was sitting up
very late spinning, when a knocking came to the door. “Who is there?”
she asked. No answer; but still the knocking went on. “Who is there?”
she asked a second time. No answer; and the knocking continued. “Who is
there?” she asked the third time, in a very angry passion.
Then there came a small voice—“Ah, Judy, agrah, let me in, for I am
cold and hungry; open the door, Judy, agrah, and let me sit by the
fire, for the night is cold out here. Judy, agrah, let me in, let me
in!”
The heart of Judy was touched, for she thought it was some small child
that had lost its way, and she rose up from her spinning, and went and
opened the door—when in walked a large black cat with a white breast,
and two white kittens after her.
They all made over to the fire and began to warm and dry themselves,
purring all the time very loudly; but Judy said never a word, only went
on spinning.
Then the black cat spoke at last—“Judy, agrah, don’t stay up so late
again, for the fairies wanted to hold a council here to-night, and to
have some supper, but you have prevented them; so they were very angry
and determined to kill you, and only for myself and my two daughters
here you would be dead by this time. So take my advice, don’t interfere
with the fairy hours again, for the night is theirs, and they hate
to look on the face of a mortal when they are out for pleasure or
business. So I ran on to tell you, and now give me a drink of milk, for
I must be off.”
And after the milk was finished the cat stood up, and called her
daughters to come away.
“Good-night, Judy, agrah,” she said. “You have been very civil to me,
and I’ll not forget it to you. Good-night, good-night.”
With that the black cat and the two kittens whisked up the chimney; but
Judy looking down saw something glittering on the hearth, and taking it
up she found it was a piece of silver, more than she ever could make in
a month by her spinning, and she was glad in her heart, and never again
sat up so late to interfere with the fairy hours, but the black cat and
her daughters came no more again to the house.