Jay Doubleyou: just so stories
The BBC took the story of how the cat is a solitary animal
BBC Radio 4 - Just So Science, Series 1, The Cat That Walked By Himself
and looked at how this is ... just so.
This is the part of the original Rudyard Kipling story:
THE CAT THAT WALKED
BY HIMSELF
EAR and attend and
listen; for this befell and behappened and became and was, O my Best Beloved,
when the Tame animals were wild. The Dog was wild, and the Horse was wild, and
the Cow was wild, and the Sheep was wild, and the Pig was wild--as wild as wild
could be--and they walked in the Wet Wild Woods by their wild lones. But the
wildest of all the wild animals was the Cat. He walked by himself, and all
places were alike to him.
Of course the Man was
wild too. He was dreadfully wild. He didn't even begin to be tame till he met
the Woman, and she told him that she did not like living in his wild ways. She
picked out a nice dry Cave, instead of a heap of wet leaves, to lie down in;
and she lit a nice fire of wood at the back of the Cave.
Out in the Wet Wild
Woods all the wild animals gathered together where they could see the light of
the fire a long way off, and they wondered what it meant.
Then
Wild Horse stamped with his wild foot and said, 'O my Friends and O my Enemies,
why have the Man and the Woman made that great light in that great Cave, and
what harm will it do us?'
Wild Dog lifted up his wild nose and smelled the smell of roast
mutton, and said, 'I will go up and see and look, and say; for I think it is
good. Cat, come with me.'
'Nenni!' said the Cat. 'I am the Cat who walks by himself, and all
places are alike to me. I will not come.'
When
Wild Dog reached the mouth of the Cave he lifted up the dried horse-skin with
his nose and sniffed the beautiful smell of the roast mutton, and the Woman,
looking at the blade-bone, heard him, and laughed, and said, 'Here comes the
first. Wild Thing out of the Wild Woods, what do you want?'
Wild Dog said, 'O my Enemy and Wife of my Enemy, what is this that
smells so good in the Wild Woods?'
Then the Woman picked up a roasted mutton-bone and threw it to
Wild Dog, and said, 'Wild Thing out of the Wild Woods, taste and try.' Wild Dog
gnawed the bone, and it was more delicious than anything he had ever tasted,
and he said, 'O my Enemy and Wife of my Enemy, give me another.'
The Woman said, 'Wild Thing out of the Wild Woods, help my Man to
hunt through the day and guard this Cave at night, and I will give you as many
roast bones as you need.'
'Ah!' said the Cat, listening. 'This is a
very wise Woman, but she is not so wise as I am.'
Next night the Woman cut great green armfuls of
fresh grass from the water-meadows, and dried it before the fire, so that it
smelt like new-mown hay
Out in the Wild Woods all the wild animals wondered
what had happened to Wild Dog, and at last Wild Horse stamped with his foot and
said, 'I will go and see and say why Wild Dog has not returned. Cat, come with
me.'
'Nenni!' said the Cat.
'I am the Cat who walks by himself, and all places are alike to me. I will not
come.'
Next day the Cat waited to see if any other Wild
thing would go up to the Cave, but no one moved in the Wet Wild Woods, so the
Cat walked there by himself; and he saw the Woman milking the Cow, and he saw
the light of the fire in the Cave, and he smelt the smell of the warm white
milk.
Then the Woman laughed and said, 'You are the Cat
who walks by himself, and all places are alike to you. Your are neither a
friend nor a servant. You have said it yourself. Go away and walk by yourself
in all places alike.'
Then Cat pretended to be sorry and said, 'Must I
never come into the Cave? Must I never sit by the warm fire? Must I never drink
the warm white milk? You are very wise and very beautiful. You should not be
cruel even to a Cat.'
Woman said, 'I knew I was wise, but I did not know I
was beautiful. So I will make a bargain with you. If ever I say one word in
your praise you may come into the Cave.'
'And if you say two words in my praise?' said the
Cat.
'I never shall,' said the Woman, 'but if I say two
words in your praise, you may sit by the fire in the Cave.'
'And if you say three words?' said the Cat.
'I never shall,' said
the Woman, 'but if I say three words in your praise, you may drink the warm
white milk three times a day for always and always and always.'
One evening Bat said, 'There is a Baby in the Cave.
He is new and pink and fat and small, and the Woman is very fond of him.'
'Ah,' said the Cat, listening, 'but what is the Baby
fond of?'
'He is fond of things that are soft and tickle,'
said the Bat. 'He is fond of warm things to hold in his arms when he goes to
sleep. He is fond of being played with. He is fond of all those things.'
'Ah,' said the Cat, listening, 'then my time has
come.'
The Woman was busy cooking that morning, and the
Baby cried and interrupted. So she carried him outside the Cave and gave him a
handful of pebbles to play with. But still the Baby cried.
Then the Cat put out his paddy paw and patted the
Baby on the cheek, and it cooed; and the Cat rubbed against its fat knees and
tickled it under its fat chin with his tail. And the Baby laughed
'A blessing on that Wild Thing whoever he may be,'
said the Woman, straightening her back,
'O my Enemy and Wife of my Enemy and Mother of my
Enemy,' said the Cat, 'it is I: for you have spoken a word in my praise, and
now I can sit within the Cave for always and always and always.
'Now,' said the Cat, 'I will sing the Baby a song
that shall keep him asleep for an hour. And he began to purr, loud and low, low
and loud, till the Baby fell fast asleep.
By and by the Cave grew so still that a little
wee-wee mouse crept out of a corner and ran across the floor.
'O my Enemy and Wife of my Enemy and Mother of my
Enemy,' said the Cat, 'is that little mouse part of your magic?'
'Ouh! Chee! No indeed!' said the Woman, and she
dropped the blade-bone and jumped upon the footstool in front of the fire and
braided up her hair very quick for fear that the mouse should run up it.
'Ah,' said the Cat, watching, 'then the mouse will
do me no harm if I eat it?'
'No,' said the Woman, braiding up her hair, 'eat it
quickly and I will ever be grateful to you.'
Cat made one jump and caught the little mouse, and
the Woman said, 'A hundred thanks. Even the First Friend is not quick enough to
catch little mice as you have done. You must be very wise.'
'O my Enemy and Wife of my Enemy and Mother of my
Enemy, said the Cat, 'it is I; for you have spoken three words in my praise,
and now I can drink the warm white milk three times a day for always and always
and always. But still I am the Cat who walks by himself, and all places are
alike to me.'
.
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