THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE.
Senor Don Tomas Ricardo, the husband of the Lady Puss whose KittenI had been the means of saving, was one of the richest, and perhapsthe noblest, Cats of all our tribe, residing in Norsarque.
He was very indignant when he heard from his Lady how nearly the darlingof his family had been killed through the rudeness of a Bear, and hecurled his whiskers and waved his tail in the excess of his anger.He did more than this; he went out among his friends, and, callingtogether a meeting of Cats, who were very numerous in the city, he made,as I heard, a speech which produced an immense effect upon them.
He commenced by saying that the Cat tribe was known (among themselves)to be the most ancient, the most noble, the most virtuous, the mostcourageous, and the most clever of all the animals who lived upon theface of the earth. (This was received with loud mews of satisfaction;and one enthusiastic Tom called out, "Cats for ever!") He then began tocompare our race with other beasts generally, and, saying a good deal infavour of the Dogs, for a reason which will presently appear, yet stillplacing Cats in the first rank of created things, he went on to speak ofBears. Encouraged by the groans, which the mention of such disagreeablebeasts occasioned, he boldly inveighed against the conduct of _the_ Bear,then upon the throne; spoke of his favouritism in encouraging into thecity so many of his tribe, and asked the meeting, in an injured tone,how they would feel when an entire army of these monstrous animalsshould march in and live upon the best of the land, while they, theCats, would starve for want of the necessaries of life. (Of coursethe audience declared they should not like it at all, and uttered themost discordant cries to prove their assertion, amid which the sameenthusiastic Tom exclaimed, "Down with the Bears!") His hearers beingthus prepared to receive the most favourable accounts of the doings ofCats, and the most atrocious histories of the actions of Bears, SenorDon Tomas Ricardo proceeded at once to the adventure of the morning,in which his Kitten had nearly been brought to an untimely end, and,although the mishap was quite as much due to the carelessness of thenurse as to the rudeness of the master of the band, he worked up such awonderful picture, that the audience, thrilled with horror, soon afterseparated, with a determination to bear the tyranny of the UrsineDynasty no longer.
I cannot tell what machinery was put in operation to produce the effectswhich shortly after ensued; but I suppose, in a place where beasts arefond of change and have very little to do, it is not difficult to getthem to do mischief. It is certain that an alliance was formed betweenthe Cats and Dogs of the city, who outnumbered together the rest of theinhabitants, and one fine day, about a week after the meeting justdescribed, there was a revolution in Norsarque; the Bears who could notescape were torn to pieces by the enraged rebels, and after some hours'fighting, peace was restored, and Senor Don Tomas Ricardo was electedKing! Cats were appointed with Dogs to fill different offices of State,and all animals of these races were, as it is easy to imagine, in veryhigh favour.
The change was a very important one to me. I had been on most friendlyterms with Senora Dona Ricardo ever since my saving her Kitten; and whenher husband was appointed to his elevated dignity, and she herselfbecame Queen, Her Majesty did not forget her former companions, butoffered me the post of Puss of Honour!
Behold me now, from the wild little creature, robbing birds' nests andhunting rats, raised to the high dignity of attendant on a Queen! It istrue, I was rather mortified to think that my elevation was due moreto a mere combination of circumstances than to any merit of my own; butI consoled myself with the reflection that mine was not a solitaryexample, and that if we animals refused to enjoy the goods of fortunewhen they were thrown in our way, because we did not happen exactly todeserve them, there would be very few beasts who could enjoy anythingat all.
His Majesty Don Tomas was ambitious of renown; and no sooner foundhimself upon the throne, than he proceeded to make a great many changesand reforms, which, though certainly very necessary, were far frompleasing to his subjects.
Her Majesty Dona Tomas was ambitious, too, but _her_ reforms produced avery contrary effect; for as they referred to the dress of the femalesex, which she laboured to make as showy and attractive as possible,every alteration was received with enthusiasm, and the more frequentthe changes, the greater they were liked. She spent whole days inconsidering the propriety of long and short waists; she had manysleepless nights in thinking over some new fashion for a cloak; and thequantity of bonnets she spoiled before she got one to her mind, wouldhave covered the heads of half the female inhabitants of Norsarque. Theone she selected at last, curiously enough, did not cover the head atall, but sticking up in a very pretty way at the back of the neck,allowed the whole head to be visible. It was natural enough that theyoung Pussies, who had pretty faces and glossy hair, should think afashion--which permitted them to show both to the admiring gaze ofpassers-by--a most delightful one; but it seemed strange to me at firstthat the old and ugly Cats should adopt it so eagerly. On thinking asecond time, however, my surprise vanished; for, in the first place,you never could convince a Cat that she was _not_ pretty or graceful orattractive in some way; and secondly, no female Cat ever seemed to knowwhen she was old.
These were some of the brilliant days of my existence; but, alas! themost brilliant are always those which fade away the quickest. I saidthat the reforms of His Majesty were not received with the same pleasureas those carried out by the Queen. He had the good sense to observe thatthey were not liked; but was too proud to withdraw them when he had oncedeclared that they should be carried through. Discontent increaseddaily,--a feeling said to be fomented by the Dogs, who were moredissatisfied than the rest, because, I suppose, they had receivedmore;--murmurs were soon heard throughout the city; and another fineday, with the same rapidity which had marked the fall of the Bears andthe elevation of the Cats, saw the Cats overthrown in their turn, andthe Dogs,--those ungrateful Dogs!--raised in their place.
The same confusion occurred on this occasion as happened previously. HisMajesty Don Tomas Ricardo was strangled by a Cur, as he was escapingfrom the Palace; Her Majesty fled no one knew whither. The household ranoff in every direction, and I took to flight with the rest. Fortunately_Snubbini_--who was a great favourite with everybody and had somefriends among the dominant party--saved me from either violence orinsult, and I was able to remain shut up in my own apartment untilthings were once more settled, and calm was restored.
When that event did occur, I resolved in my own mind to depart fromNorsarque, and take my way back to the city of my birth, which I nowfelt a strong inclination to see again. The proposal seemed no lessdelightful to my faithful valet than it was agreeable to myself; but howfar the thought of the effect which our fine clothes and foreign habitswas to produce upon the good beasts of Caneville mixed itself up withour wish to return to our native country, I leave to the charitable todetermine.
It was with a very different train that I took my departure fromNorsarque to that with which I had entered it. Then _Snub_, with asingle box upon his head, was my solitary attendant and my only luggage;now _Snub_, converted into _Snubbini_, my servant, multiplied by four,and my trunk by five, made no despicable figure. We carried with us allthe necessaries for lodging at night and for refreshment during the day;and passing on by easy journeys, we arrived, in about three weeks, atCaneville.
How delightful did each well-known spot appear to me as I drew near andrecognized its familiar feature! how fondly did I gaze upon each hill,each tree, which I had visited and loved in earlier days! with what amixed feeling of gratitude, of pain, and pleasure, did I recline uponthe soft grass, and, gazing on the city, pass in review the scenes andevents which had occurred there, and in which I had been an actress!I have known many pleasures in the course of my life, but I count thereturn to one's country, after a long absence, as one of the purestand most satisfactory. I am not aware if the having left it with theshame of crime could destroy this delight; but I, who left mine withthe feeling of disappointment and vexation, felt that _it_, a
t least,had no power to make my pleasure less; for the first few days of myreturn--during which I visited every old haunt, and every spot to whichwas attached a recollection--were perfectly happy.
A VERY FINE CAT.]
Age creeps upon us all imperceptibly, and we are long before we canbring ourselves to _confess_ that we are growing old: even when we _say_so, we flatter ourselves that we are yet strong and hearty, and havemany years in store to live before we reach our resting-place. We mayhowever generally discover we are no longer young by comparing thedifferent effects produced on us by the same events at various periodsof our existence; and if we find that we cease to attribute to them thesame consequence with which we once invested them, we shall not be farwrong in looking upon our change of opinion as one of the proofs ofour first youth being over. As I write these Memoirs, I cannot forbearsmiling at many things to which, at the time they were acting, Iattached a vast deal of importance. I remember, as if it were onlyyesterday, my first entrance into the streets of Caneville after my longabsence abroad. I recollect, with wonderful accuracy, my having selectedmy most showy dress, my most fashionable mantle, my most delightfulbonnet, with which to astonish the weak minds of the inhabitants of mynative city. I remember glancing round with pride at Snubbini, who hadput on his richest suit of livery, and who was strutting along withhis gold-headed staff under his arm, and his nose straight before him.I remember, too, the satisfaction I experienced when, on drawing nearmy house, one of my former neighbours, who was reputed the richest andproudest Cat of the quarter, drew aside to let me pass, and made mea profound bow as I swept by!
I think I have learnt to be wiser since that time, and to appreciatethings as they _are_, not by what they _seem_. It is long before vanitycan be eradicated from the heart; but I do believe I managed to root outsome of mine before my pretensions to youth and beauty were entirelydeparted. Solitary thought and study, stolen from the gaieties of theworld, have taught me great truths; they have proved to me the morevividly the goodness of my deceased cousin, and the wisdom of hercounsels. I have again aimed at being _useful_ to my fellow-creatures;and although I have often failed, I have sometimes succeeded, and onesuccess, in such a pursuit, outweighs a thousand failures. If I can onlyimpress this truth upon _one_ out of, I hope, my many readers, there maybe some good even in a Cat's Tale.
THE END.
JOHN EDWARD TAYLOR, PRINTER, LITTLE QUEEN STREET, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS.
Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net Share this book with friends