The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1888-02-19
THE CATS OF THE ORIENT.
now TIE DIFFERENT PEOPLES OF
ASIA REGARD Ch7S.

Unhearu-of Defercnce to Cats IN Eers'e-An
Astonhshisr SYMPHONY st heerJand-mn
serisi Regard OF the Chincss Cor Cats.
About dusk one evening a pair Of cats
made their appearance on a fence within eye
shot OF my window. The one from the right
arrived first. Reaching the middle OF the
fence. he quietly sat down and waited. In a
minute or so another one came walking alrily
along from the other direction. Until they
wore within q few feet OF coming together.
each one pretended not to SEQ the other. Sud-
denly. however, the hollow farce OF not seeing
each other exploded. "Spit!-whahaoww-
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES spill" and
both felines fiattened themselves out Oh the
fence. oars laid back. and tnils waving threat
eningly from side to side. After swearing and
maintaining this belligerent attitude n while,
the riGht-hand cat crert backward reluctantly.
inch by inch, to a side fence. Down this he re-
treated and allowed the other to pass quietly
by. Since that evening these two cats havo
met as regularly as II BY appointment for n re-
hearsnl. nbout tha same hour, and played this
Same little comedy over again.
1t Ia later at night than this, however. when
the regular feline orchestra begins that re-
Elections are conjurcd up and waited way on
tho wings OF Renaissance At almost every
stage OF my journey around the world on q
bicycle I was RECALLED with a concert in which
the familiar ditties Of tho night wore warbled
with more or less vigor. Tho roll of England's
drums may DO heard around the world. per-
haps, but tho nocturnal concerto Of the domestic
cat, In the simple matter of %ubi1uity. leaves
Britannia's ~reveille far In the rear.
1t was played to mo in all countries and
among all peoples. with strange variations.
Sometimes the music WIS depressing. and
sometimes 1t sounded like a message from the
old familiar backyard fence NJ home. Much
depended upon the quality Of the music and
the conditions under which 1t was heard. In
the wilds OF Asiatic fanaticism the familiar
Spit!
spill" often seemed to DO n sort of n telephone
connection that was keeping me in touch with
the civilization Of the United States.
All cats. however. are not tho wanton and
roysterous animals that nightly sit and MARBLE
on your neighbours fence. In Molalnmedan
countries the cut is an object OF consideration
and respect. amounting in some parts Of Islam
to veneration. For this worshipful regard
among the faithful the cat Is indebted to Mo-
hammed. Rather than disturb q sleeping cat
which had curled itself up on his coat one day,
Mohammed deliberately cut ava that portion
OF his garment on which the cat was repos-
ing. From that day to this the Musselman
world has regarded tho cat with generation.
The Persians. particularly. are deferential in
tnelE treatment OIL inc cut. 1 NdNe Seeu cutS
ton that would have made the famous SUN
office cat spit with envy.
hoikira Of Khoi. u Ia rge city in western Persia
Soon after nts5 my q RinniI,t the p sopita m anid was IHs
Hoikin,. and, follower by several counseIIorsin
long gowns and snowy turbans. he led the way
into the dining room. The dining cloth WAS
and his venerable associates seated themselves;
Oriental fashion, on the floor; vas provided
with a little stand table at one end.
SO far there was nothing remarkable : it was
merely an ideal Asiatic dining room scene. The
55fIan% verr ne5 part was io yet t t s soms il |; ana ,6s eG .hSp 1t
OF five times as many cats us there wero human
guests, In the room were many open doors
As we entered l noticed that several of the IA
nous long haired cats Of the country were how
ready the number was sufficient to arrest my
own interest, Nobody took any particular uo-
tif H,, Of them; however ,er,b but me; ~ t,ro ;,unoa
nirily UP on one Of the window stills. and walked
right in; In less time than it takes to tell it
before we were half through eating l should
think this number was at least doubled. The
alive with Iehs eats. W" Whenever G . ssrvi o. brought
In q now dish. or took anything away. he was
t tGaf srStt aGr in no 5se f9o ennf ~ Z e swarm ns bis q bs eats
Not q meow was heard. however, nor a guar
re,some sound during the meal time. Every
in silently movin. about. They were the most
orderly and docorous lot OF cats Imaginable.
the bounds OF the proprieties. They seemed
to t9 have IA aegni rith the hps stnt ,bnno and poli!eness
aaything unusual W y Gns # The sa!s
showed back. The cats We're fearless and
asallasr' the so% 1sne Of fns% din sersSf 5ac ana Pf II wss
very evident that they had never known what
It was to receive Il blow or a rude rebuff at the
After dinner tho servitors promptly removed
the remnants: The intruders psomenaled the
they had collected. This was moro cats than l
Owing to linguistic SHORTCOMINGS. / could
never make out whether they were all pension
ers Of the municipal konak Or merely ncighhor-
manner every day.
After this extraordinary introduction to the
pect to hear equally extraordinary things about
their midnight reveIlinGs. For. sad to say. the
behavior rs he is when lowering around the
outskirts OF q hoikim's ban1uetting board. Nor
does he q always wait no for the setting q the sHp
o., hair is the Persian eat on it's native. heath
cslebratea among Ferenghi trnvellers for It's
day. WHOM the felinos of other, lands are in
dulginS In DOLCE Je,' niente and saving their
night, tho oats Of Persia are promenading the
walls and honsetopss utterinG. p~iaintive
melodies. that sound like tho wailing OF lost
souls. There is more genuine zitherish pathos
intbe
owwrrr" OF n Persian Thomas cat than there is
In q muezzin's call to prayer.
The unfortunate tendency Of the Persian eat
70 carol In the daytime as well as In tho night
Is tho cause Of many little unpleasantnesses
between the European colony in Teheran md
the natives, Fifty, cats might warble on 4 Per-
SLAMS root day and night, and owing 70 their be-,
Ing under the special protection q Mohammed
they would never be molested. This. of course,
& Ferenghi cannot be expected to endure.
fancy to perch himself on the wall of our kOnak
and. looking down into tho yard. favor us with
a musical m6lange at any honr. of the day or
night. In Difference to tho prejudices of our
Musselman neiGhbors; We contented ourselves
at first by shooting him away. Finally. how
ever, we concluded that his sonl.harroWing re-
mol wouldn't. or Couldn't, come and fetch that
cat. we determined to send it 70 Mohammed.
1t would never do to shoot him openly. how
eyer. So 70 took Into our confidence an Arme-
nlan servant. to whose master we learned tho
would soil his master's immortal soul for n