El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1898-02-19
THE FOLKLORE OF CATS.
Tsbby Originated in Egypt--Sir Hen
nv Wyat's FOur-FOOted Friend.


Some scholarly enthusiast should
write a volume on this theme. SD long
as we believed that the domestic cat
descended from the wild European
specie, its appearance In legeod- and
fairy tales was in no way more puzzling
than that of the fox or the wolf But
science has wrecked that comfortable
tn Org, and it seems to follow that all
the folklore of cats has arisen in his
roric time-a conclusion well worth
the study of those who take interest in
such subjects. Our cats are heritage
from ancieut Egypt. Max Muller pro-
uounces that even the Sanscrit wO' is
''com pa ratively recent" India receiv-
ed the animal probably from the
Greeks, who themselves had only lately
become acquainted with it. The in
,elligent scnoolbOy will jear at this as
serL,On. Does not Arlstophanes refer
to the Gale, and is not Gale cat! The
husba ndman in THE Peace" suspects
it of stealing game from his larder.
Anyhow" ne says, Il heard the gale
max ny gr eat noise there last night"
w nat could this household pet be I'M
less a cat? Prof. Rolleston has de-
monstrated that it could be the white
breasted N arten, and was, in fact-a
delightful little creature, for these
who could bear its smell, and one not
10 be surpassed at housing. 1t would
-eem that the Romans were not fam
iliar with cats even in Pliny 8 day, for
ne evidently thinks that they sJank
like a gale. 1t is alleged that the
whole Roman literature contains less
To an half dozen illusions to cate be-
fore the ChrlstiOn era.
Upon the other hand, @ cat 1s repre-
sented in one of the grandest, and, ap-
parently, one of the oldest Etruscan
.Um bs; It has just caught q mouse, and
holds it. No doubt there was inter-
course between the Tuscans and the
Egyptians. But in northern mythology
the chariot of Freyga. or Frigga, is
drawn by two cats. She was g. ddess
If Love ard Luck, very properly asso-
ciated with q creature which is gentle
aud tender at the domestic hearth, but
en,erprising in cOurtship and fearless
: IN meeting q rival. Is 1t to be credited
t; a, Freyga's cats were the wild var
ley? The matter ia not SO unimport-
ant as it looks; but decided ly this is
rot the pace for an excursus upon the
date of the Asa gods In q very early
| Saga we fiEd q wicked man, ThorOlf
Sleegja, de'ying the vengeance OF his
neighuOrs under pi oteciion OF twenty
cats. At length the chief Of the dis
! trict mustered eighteen men, and ss-
sailed the house. TbOrOif posted his
{ ats at the door, land they looked very
| fierce, moving and rolling their eyes "
When the CHEF apr cached they
cried out and began TO act hideously."
So he remarked, This Ia a wick ed
company" and Withdrew to the fence,
| where his men pitched firebraDds on
the roof and set it blazing. Thorolf
burst out presently, with a chest of
silver under each arm, caught one OF
his en- mics, and jumped into the
| I; eighboring bog, holding him tight.
Neither bodies nor treasure could be
recovered. The sie ht Of this house was
| naunted by cats ever after wards, land
evil was thought to dwell there"
A volume is needed for this subject,
because, among other reasons, it must
be illustr ate d by stories or the public
will be rored; and stories fill up. A
more string of facts ''gOes in at enc
ear and out at the other. In such u
vo ume the legend of Dick Whiting
ton would require several scores OF
pages for proper treatment; here we
say nothing about it. But there is an
other folklore tale of the same class
not nearly so famila ar to the public.
tower by Richard Ill, and pitifully
treated. He had neither bed. nor
clothes, and only food enough to keep
him Just alive. Winter set in and he
was like to pe rish with cold. One
night a cat siG down the chimney
came up to him purring and confident,
as 10 its master curled it~elf upon his
chest, and kept him warm till morning.
Tt en- it passed up the chimney again,
to reappear presently with a pigeon.
which it put into Sir Henry's hands,
and vanished for the day. When the
jailer came he begged for more
food, but the man replied that he: burst
not. =.
Then wilt thou dress any 1
provide?" asked Sir Henry. Very
willingly the jailer promised, and be
kept his word, though startled and
alarmed at sight OF the pigeon,
So things went jup for a time. But
wicked Richard deiermiued to starye
his enemv to death, and gave orders
to that effect. Then the can paid sew
eral visits during the day. bringing
pigeon each time, aud-the jailer, right
ly concluding that ''there were mira
cles about" reverently cooked them.
So Henry outlived his prosecutor, and
the story is extant:to this day among
the rnuniments of that ancient
family; but not transcribed by the
hero, as we undo rstand. nor in his
ger Grafton. The account states, bow