A great change was made in my manner of life very soon after this last
adventure, which may be looked upon as the closing scene of my wild and
thoughtless Kittenhood. I was now entering upon a new course of
existence, where far different pursuits had to engage my attention.
A distant relation of my mother's, who had never been married (a very
singular circumstance in our city), and who lived in a house with only
two servants to keep her company, invited me to spend some time with
her, and, as she was very clever and accomplished, my mother was most
pleased to let me go, as she considered that I might obtain great
advantages from her society and conversation.
The sort of life I had been leading made my first days spent at Hum
Villa very dull and tedious, for my cousin, although most gentle and
kind, was precise to an extraordinary degree, and could not bear the
least disorder either in her house, her person, or the manners or
appearance of those about her. Truly both she and her servants were
orderly enough; for they were washing at least ten times a day, and
never sat down to a meal or got up from it without licking themselves
all over for a good half hour.
By degrees however what seemed to me irksome and fussy wore
imperceptibly away, and I was not long in discovering that cleanliness
of body has a good deal to do with promoting purity of mind. I am
certain it was so with myself; for as I got into habits of preciseness,
and put my tongue to the use for which nature in part designed it,
namely the washing and cleansing my person, my thoughts took a very
different turn, and, after a few months, I should have avoided with
horror many of those companions with whom I had been formerly so
friendly, if they had, by any chance, been thrown in my way.
But this was only one of the changes which my residence with my cousin
wrought in me. I had never before met with a Cat who had seen so much or
who had read so many books as she. Her memory too was so good that she
could relate all she had seen and much that she had read, and, as she
had gone on _thinking_, as well as seeing and reading, her conversation,
when I came to know her well, was delightful.
She had been into other countries; she had seen places inhabited by
animals different to those which lived in Caneville; she had even
learned to understand and speak their language. She told me she had
read that there were cities filled with creatures called _men_, who
considered themselves superior to all other beasts, which they used as
slaves and killed for food. When I asked her, if there were any Cats
living among these creatures--these men? she replied, there were a great
many; but that they were looked upon as poor, miserable things, were
often badly treated, and, at the best, were rather tolerated than liked,
and never enjoyed the full confidence of their harsh masters.
In such discourse we spent a great deal of time: little by little my
views became enlarged, and as she spoke to me of the noble nature of
some of the animals she had met with upon her travels, the acts of
kindness she had received from them, and the deeds by which many of
them had rendered themselves famous, I began to appreciate more justly
the position which we Cats occupied in the scale of creation. Not that
I was desirous of changing my lot for that of any other beast; but
I learned to look with more humility upon myself and my tribe, and
understood that many things were better managed in other countries,
and by other animals, than _we_ managed them in Caneville.
But none of my good cousin's accomplishments pleased me so much as her
perfect knowledge of music. She played several instruments in a charming
and graceful manner, and her voice was so sweet that when she sang, and
accompanied herself on the piano, it was most delightful to hear her.
She soon perceived my fondness for the science, and promised, if I were
attentive and would follow her instructions, to teach me both to play
and sing. No proposal could have been more pleasing to me. I thanked her
a hundred times, and resolved to use my best efforts to do credit to my
preceptress's instructions, and make myself mistress of so charming an
acquirement.
I now began to study in good earnest. Under the guidance of my real
friend I made great progress: I soon learned both to read and write;
acquired a slight knowledge of other tongues, and made such proficiency
in music as, in the opinion of my cousin, to perform many pieces with as
much grace and dexterity as herself. I could sing, too, pretty well; but
my voice was still weak and tremulous, and wanted the full tone and
power of her own.
How happily the days now passed! How thankful did I feel to my cousin,
to my good mother, to my fortunate lot, which thus gave me the means
of acquiring an education that placed me so far above most of my
fellow-Cats!
These thoughts however awakened such pride in my bosom, that I began to
look upon Pussies who had not been blessed with the same advantages as
myself, as beings so inferior that I would scarce deign to look on them.
One or two Tommies, who ventured to cast tender looks upon me as I
passed through the streets or peeped out of the window, I treated with
scorn; and when _one_, dressed in glossy black, ventured one day to
speak to me as I was returning from my mother's house, I was even so
rude as not only to set up my back at him, but actually spit in his
face.
Conduct of this kind is certain to meet with punishment; and my
mentioning the circumstance now is a proof that I have no wish to spare
myself, and that I heartily regret having ever been guilty of such
behaviour.
My pride was destined to meet with a severe fall, and sorrow was about
to take the place of happiness.
I had been about a year residing with my cousin, when our city was
visited with a terrible malady, which destroyed many of the inhabitants.
It commenced in the low and dirty parts of the town, where the poor curs
and mongrels lived, in those miserable huts unfit for any dog, but which
poverty obliged many of them to dwell in. It soon extended to the Cats'
quarter, and some of the best families were swept off by the infection.
Death was particularly busy in my own family: my father fell first, then
two of my sisters, and, at last, my mother! Her loss was heaviest of
all; and I had scarce recovered from the shock when my kind friend, my
good cousin, also caught the disease, and quickly passed away.
One would have thought that these various calamities, coming so quickly
upon each other, would have destroyed me at once, or would have so far
affected me as to kill me by degrees. The very greatest of them however
seemed to produce a contrary effect, and I, who would sometimes mourn
for days over a trifling misfortune, found myself sad indeed, but calm
under these heavy losses.
The disease passed away; and when I was sufficiently recovered to
examine my position, I saw myself mistress of a fine house, left me by
my poor cousin, with all her books, papers, musical instruments, and
other things, too numerous to mention.
It was on looking over the store of articles which I became thus
unexpectedly possessed of, that I discovered a bundle of letters,
written in a bold, Cat-like style. Although the ink had become pale with
time, and many parts were torn into holes, I yet managed to make out
their contents, and learn that they had been written to my cousin in her
youth by some Cat of noble birth, who had wished to marry her, but whose
attentions she had for some reason refused. Perhaps she had regretted it
afterwards, and for that reason had always lived alone; perhaps he had
died, or left the city, or----a number of ideas came into my mind about
him, and I even tried to imagine what he was like, and whether he at all
resembled the Tom in black I had been so rude to some time before.
[Illustration: A SELECT CLASS.]
I then began to consider what I should do with the packet. When I
reflected that my cousin had never mentioned the subject, or even the
name of her correspondent, I thought the only plan was to be equally
silent, and, in order to avoid the remarks of others, put the letters in
the fire; for, although I had read them myself, I felt quite persuaded
she had no wish that they should be generally known. My resolution was
soon taken; and casting the papers one by one into the flames, I watched
them slowly burn until there was a little black heap of ashes on the
hearth. The last letter was in my paw; I tore it in halves, and threw
the first sheet on to the pile; the second was just going the same
way, when my eye caught sight of two verses of a song, which I had not
observed till then. I stopped and read them through: they were stanzas
I had sometimes heard my cousin sing; and although I do not think so much
of them now as I did at the time, I preserved them from the flames, and
now insert them here in memory of so kind and gentle a Cat:--
With others I may frisk and play,
With others I may talk and sing,
With others pass the live-long day,
And find, time flies with rapid wing:
A friend (I seek not to deceive)
I may, perchance, to others be;
But, ah! my darling Puss! believe,
I purr, I only purr for thee!
Thy form is stamp'd upon that heart,
Which, true to thee, will beat till death;
Thy praises, dear one that thou art,
Will mingle with my latest breath.
Deign, then, to smile upon my suit,
Nor heedlessly my vows refuse;
But trust the honour of the brute
Who seeks to win thee with his muse!
The education I had received, and the advantages I possessed in the
way of books, joined to my present loneliness, induced me to carry out
an idea that had more than once entered my head, and which my kind
relation, when alive, had strongly encouraged. This was to get together
the Kittens of some of my friends who were anxious to obtain knowledge,
and impart to them some portion of that I had myself acquired,--in
brief, to keep a school.
I never ceased to remember the words of my poor cousin when speaking on
this subject. "My dear," she had often said, "it is the duty of every
Cat in this world to make herself useful; she is sent here for that
purpose, depend upon it; and although all Cats cannot be useful in the
same way or to the same extent, some being placed in very different
circumstances to others, _every_ Cat, rich or poor, _may_ do a certain
amount of useful work, which if she neglects, she is wicked. No
employment is so honourable as that of teaching to others the learning
we have ourselves attained; for learning destroys prejudice, makes us
better as well as wiser, and helps us to bear with greater fortitude
the calamities of life. As you have yourself acquired learning, you may
therefore show your usefulness by imparting it to others; and depend
upon it, no consolation will be greater to you in hours of misfortune,
and even on your bed of death, than the thought that you have not spent
your life in vain!"
It was with such sanction that I entered on my new career. Each day
might I have been seen, perched upon a high-backed chair, with book
in hand, examining my class as it stood up before me; a rod within my
reach to frighten evil-doers, the inattentive, and the careless; and
sometimes, with a dunce of a Kitten before me standing upon a form, with
an ugly cap upon her head, on account of some terrible breach of good
manners, or an extra amount of stupidity in conning her tasks.