The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1880-08-26
IFrom The Queen.l
Ahonf (catn.

L From Inc Qutch.i
About Cats.
THO character OF the cat is such that We
must not wonder at the position IL mas taken
| In the popular superstitions and sayings OF
| many nations. Its appearance ana move,
ments have been regarded as ominous, ahu
1t has supplied an excellent theme ior pro,
verbs and comparisons. The latter oniy VIII
form the subject OF The present paper, al
though the srperstitions are often curious
and Interesting. We must risk the taunt OF
Lady Macbeth
| Letting dare not wait upon Ttoould
| Like The poor cat y The adsge. 49,
The savings which have come down 10
rs about cats are not always complimentary
and suggestive OF kindness. Thus shak-
speare's of do, hang me In bottle ike
cat. and shoot at me-" is reference to
barbarous sport, OF which DR.. Brewer says:
% In olden times a cat was for sport Enclosed
In bag or leather bottle and hung to the
branch of a tree as mark for bowmen 10
shoot at" Among the many expressions
which are comparisons, either In form or IN
reality, the following occur: Grinning likes
Cheshire cat living cat and dog lire; 10 De
like Kilkenny cats; as cat loves mustaro
as gray as grannum's cat. The meaning oil
all these Is obvious, and they are ratner
forcible than elegant. For Living cat
and dog life " the French say $40 love IKE
eats and dogs; and this leads us 10 oo-
serve that many OF the sayings which are
current in one language appear in others,
more or less modified. Thus, We say To
buy pig 10 poke"; but in France, Elan
ders, and elsewhere they say "To buy cat
In bag"
| The weItknown motto OF the Grants,
Touch not cat but glove" in when
abut - means without" has been ex-
plaIned TO mean Touch not the clan Cat
ian. or mountain cat, without glove" |;
but. as fact, the saying is common to the
French and to other languages. Equally
general Is the saying, GA mittened cat
catches no mice"; and perhaps even more
/ so, I" When the cat is away the mice play"
/ Others which are widely spread are: To
bell the cat Ito hang bells about its neck {;
By night all cats are gray; The cat loves
fish, but won't wet her feet to catch them;
The cat did il; He would not harm cat,
| etc.
land for an Oliver" the French say, "For
a good cat a good rat" In French " To
cast cat between ones legs is TO lay the
blame on any one; aud "To remove the cat
from the house" is TO sneak or steal away.
Some folks are said "to love neither dog
nor cat" when they love nobody; or to be
like bad cats which HEX before they scratch,
when they feign kindness but mean mis-
chief. That cat may look at king is well
understood; and so is using cats paw for
getting chestnuts out OF the fire. In some
places they pay in cats and rats, and know
the meaning OF kitten" without needing
" catn to be said. Letting the cat get at
the cheese is wrong; but it is right not to
wake a sleeping cat, and 10 mistrust cat
even when she Is asleep. To call cat a
cat is merely our calling 4 spade spade.
A scaIded cat breads cold water, Just as a
burnt child breads the fire; and though
scalded cat does not go back to the
kitchen, the Spanish idea is good" one
eve on the pot and the other on the cat"
The Italian means cat when he is In earn
est, does not mean cat when he Is IN
lest, and plays the dead cat when he dis
stimulates. He calls the cat when he
speaks plainly; he sets about skinnlnS
cat when he undertakes bard task; ana
when be sees no one he hnds neather cat
nor dog. That eviI.doers are caught at last
he shows by saying the cat goes so often TO
the bacon that she leaves her claws there.
He goes to see the cat drowned when he
lets himself be imposed on, and he cheats
another when he gets him to go and see him
fish along with the cat. Though every
cat would like q bell, the cat OF Masina
scratched out its own eyes in order not TO
see the rats.
The Spaniard. like the Italian, plays the
cat when he dissimulates, but it is not a dead
one. The Spanard says the cat would be a
good friend If it did not scratch, and he
thinks a cat which news is not good
mouser. An Italian says one had better be the
head OF a cat than the tail OF lion. a wary
German goes like a cat round hot broth, and
believes it too late TO drive the cat away
when the cheese is eaten. Many believe that
q good cat often loses mouse; that no cat
is TOO small TO scratch, and that you cannot
keep away The cat when it has tasted cream.
The Russian thinks that play for cats means
tears for the mice; the Arab says that when
the cats and mice are on good terms the
provisions suffer; the Turk tells us that
two cats can hold their own against one
lion, Another Turkish saying is, 1t is fast
day to-day, as the cat said when 1t could
not get at the liver.
The Englishman fancies that some people
have as many lives as cat-that cat, IN
fact, has nine lives; yet be holds that care
will kill a cat, and that May kittens should
be drowned. He is scarcely alone in think
y ~
the higher she raises her tail-in other
words, that flsttery feeds vanity. He lets
the cat out OF the bag but so do others,
and they all agree that 1t is in the nature OF
a cat always to fall on its feet. Only be
talks of turning cat in pan, and OF raining
cats and dogs, or sees folks dance like cat
on hot bricks.
The Spaniard SAYS, Has the cat kittened |?
when he sees place full OF lights; and
he asks, Who has to take the cat out OF the
water when something unpleasant has to
be done. That any one watches as cat a
mouse, Is French as much as English. The
French also say, She is as dainty as a ca. !;
it is nothing to whipa cat for. Their singers
have cat in the throat when the throat is
not clear; and the phrase cat music " is
not unknown. Ii one has scratched face,
be has been playing with cats; and an i'm
possibility Is mouse's nest In "a cats
ear. That people should sometimes go like
a cat over hot Goals Is Ineligible enough.
But as our space is so limited that we have
scarcelyroom to swing a cat, we must draw
to conclusion. We have collected guam
tity OF trifes from many sources, and the
result reminds us OF the German who says
that he who hunts with cats will readily
catch mice. III it should be asked what you
can have O. q cat but her skin, we scarcely
know how we could reply. But as we wish
to say something about this domestic pet,
we append two short extracts from the
noble life OF Laurence Andrews: "The
mouse-hunter or cat is an unclean beast,
and poison enemy to all mice; and when
she hath gotten one she playeth Herewith,
yet she eateth it. And the cat hath long
hair on her mouth, and when her hairs be