We have been meditating on the dissimilar conduct of cats and dogs,
since we added a kitten (named _Pepys_) to our household roster.
The dog, plainly, is a boob, for he tries so hard to please and
ingratiate the Masters of the Event, his deities. Whereas the cat,
while calmly recognizing the paramountcy of the gods, goes ahead in
every way within his power to circumvent and outwit their control. The
dog, poor honest simpleton, shows his genuine and unselfish affection
for his deities; the cat never makes up to them unless he wants
something from them, or feels that a little friendly caressing would
be agreeable. The cat is 100 per cent. pro-feline. The dog, we reckon,
is at least 30 per cent. pro-human. You open the back door. If the
cat wants to go abroad, he will streak through without an instant’s
hesitation; but the dog will wait, politely, until he is sure whether
you wish him to go out. Question, then, for philosophic ruminators--Do
not the domestic gods secretly respect the cat a little more because
they know he is inwardly hostile and contemptuous and a perfect ego? A
whole rationale of heaven and hell may be quizzed out of this matter.
* * * * *