In addition to Big, who was striped, there were five other kittens
in the litter: a black, a white, a grey, and a red--besides an
indescribable little production about the size of a man’s thumb, with
fur whose colouring resembled patches of all the others put together.
Tiny lay always half smothered under the heap of kittens, and had to
be content with the worst nipple, which, although nearest the mother’s
heart, nevertheless flowed weakly. That he had not long ago been
crushed to death by the others must remain an insoluble mystery!
The little, blind creatures were just developing their sight. The
faint, subdued light here inside the willow stump made this trying
period unusually agreeable. Even when the sun was shining strongly
outside they could lie staring about them without discomfort. Each of
the tiny eyes was covered with a curious bluish film, through the damp,
glazed surface of which the slanting pupils began to push their way.
The eyes appeared extraordinarily large in comparison with the head,
and gave the impression that the kittens were in a state of perpetual
surprise.
On the whole, the babies had grown. True, their coats were not quite
in order, for the fur still stuck out patchily all over their bodies;
but the hair was there right enough, and the colours too ... the white
was as white as day, and the black as black as night; even the cross
stripes on the grey kitten showed up plainly.
Their hindquarters alone remained noticeably undeveloped; they were
still quite conical and stunted, and jerked up stiffly and clumsily
with every movement of the body. It would be a long time before that
part attained perfection.
The imps were still far from being active and graceful! They reeled and
rolled as they crawled over the lumps of touchwood; they could not
jump at all, indeed they could scarcely walk. It seemed as if, once
having acquired eyes, they had neglected everything else. They used
them incessantly ... and were never tired of looking and looking!
They had no opportunity to gormandize. They drank greedily, and soon
sucked old Grey Puss dry. Then she shook them off and closed the
milk-spring. This she effected by rolling herself into a ball and
pressing her forepaws tightly to her breasts--and however much the
little ones exerted themselves to widen the opening with their snouts
so as to get inside and continue drinking, they never succeeded.
Then they had revenge by clambering up and nestling on her back and
neck; where they lay licking their chops.
This sort of thing didn’t upset her in the least. In fact, she was
delighted at being mauled about by her offspring; she stretched herself
at full length, purring and humming the while--she knew now that they
had settled down for a while.
Occasionally she blinked her tight-shut eyelids, twisted her head
round, and fastened her keen, brassy orbs on the long row of funny
little patches of colour on her back. There was every imaginable feline
colour-scheme there, and she studied each one separately, noticing any
peculiarity of colouring or divergence from type....
Extraordinary.... It seemed to her that she had seen all these little
fellows before!