A NEW LEAF.
A great change was made in my manner of life very soon after this lastadventure, which may be looked upon as the closing scene of my wild andthoughtless Kittenhood. I was now entering upon a new course ofexistence, where far different pursuits had to engage my attention.
A distant relation of my mother's, who had never been married (a verysingular circumstance in our city), and who lived in a house with onlytwo servants to keep her company, invited me to spend some time withher, and, as she was very clever and accomplished, my mother was mostpleased to let me go, as she considered that I might obtain greatadvantages from her society and conversation.
The sort of life I had been leading made my first days spent at HumVilla very dull and tedious, for my cousin, although most gentle andkind, was precise to an extraordinary degree, and could not bear theleast disorder either in her house, her person, or the manners orappearance of those about her. Truly both she and her servants wereorderly enough; for they were washing at least ten times a day, andnever sat down to a meal or got up from it without licking themselvesall over for a good half hour.
By degrees however what seemed to me irksome and fussy woreimperceptibly away, and I was not long in discovering that cleanlinessof body has a good deal to do with promoting purity of mind. I amcertain it was so with myself; for as I got into habits of preciseness,and put my tongue to the use for which nature in part designed it,namely the washing and cleansing my person, my thoughts took a verydifferent turn, and, after a few months, I should have avoided withhorror many of those companions with whom I had been formerly sofriendly, if they had, by any chance, been thrown in my way.
But this was only one of the changes which my residence with my cousinwrought in me. I had never before met with a Cat who had seen so much orwho had read so many books as she. Her memory too was so good that shecould relate all she had seen and much that she had read, and, as shehad gone on _thinking_, as well as seeing and reading, her conversation,when I came to know her well, was delightful.
She had been into other countries; she had seen places inhabited byanimals different to those which lived in Caneville; she had evenlearned to understand and speak their language. She told me she hadread that there were cities filled with creatures called _men_, whoconsidered themselves superior to all other beasts, which they used asslaves and killed for food. When I asked her, if there were any Catsliving among these creatures--these men? she replied, there were a greatmany; but that they were looked upon as poor, miserable things, wereoften badly treated, and, at the best, were rather tolerated than liked,and never enjoyed the full confidence of their harsh masters.
In such discourse we spent a great deal of time: little by little myviews became enlarged, and as she spoke to me of the noble nature ofsome of the animals she had met with upon her travels, the acts ofkindness she had received from them, and the deeds by which many ofthem had rendered themselves famous, I began to appreciate more justlythe position which we Cats occupied in the scale of creation. Not thatI was desirous of changing my lot for that of any other beast; butI learned to look with more humility upon myself and my tribe, andunderstood that many things were better managed in other countries,and by other animals, than _we_ managed them in Caneville.
But none of my good cousin's accomplishments pleased me so much as herperfect knowledge of music. She played several instruments in a charmingand graceful manner, and her voice was so sweet that when she sang, andaccompanied herself on the piano, it was most delightful to hear her.
She soon perceived my fondness for the science, and promised, if I wereattentive and would follow her instructions, to teach me both to playand sing. No proposal could have been more pleasing to me. I thanked hera hundred times, and resolved to use my best efforts to do credit to mypreceptress's instructions, and make myself mistress of so charming anacquirement.
I now began to study in good earnest. Under the guidance of my realfriend I made great progress: I soon learned both to read and write;acquired a slight knowledge of other tongues, and made such proficiencyin music as, in the opinion of my cousin, to perform many pieces with asmuch grace and dexterity as herself. I could sing, too, pretty well; butmy voice was still weak and tremulous, and wanted the full tone andpower of her own.
How happily the days now passed! How thankful did I feel to my cousin,to my good mother, to my fortunate lot, which thus gave me the meansof acquiring an education that placed me so far above most of myfellow-Cats!
These thoughts however awakened such pride in my bosom, that I began tolook upon Pussies who had not been blessed with the same advantages asmyself, as beings so inferior that I would scarce deign to look on them.One or two Tommies, who ventured to cast tender looks upon me as Ipassed through the streets or peeped out of the window, I treated withscorn; and when _one_, dressed in glossy black, ventured one day tospeak to me as I was returning from my mother's house, I was even sorude as not only to set up my back at him, but actually spit in hisface.
Conduct of this kind is certain to meet with punishment; and mymentioning the circumstance now is a proof that I have no wish to sparemyself, and that I heartily regret having ever been guilty of suchbehaviour.
My pride was destined to meet with a severe fall, and sorrow was aboutto take the place of happiness.
I had been about a year residing with my cousin, when our city wasvisited with a terrible malady, which destroyed many of the inhabitants.It commenced in the low and dirty parts of the town, where the poor cursand mongrels lived, in those miserable huts unfit for any dog, but whichpoverty obliged many of them to dwell in. It soon extended to the Cats'quarter, and some of the best families were swept off by the infection.
Death was particularly busy in my own family: my father fell first, thentwo of my sisters, and, at last, my mother! Her loss was heaviest ofall; and I had scarce recovered from the shock when my kind friend, mygood cousin, also caught the disease, and quickly passed away.
One would have thought that these various calamities, coming so quicklyupon each other, would have destroyed me at once, or would have so faraffected me as to kill me by degrees. The very greatest of them howeverseemed to produce a contrary effect, and I, who would sometimes mournfor days over a trifling misfortune, found myself sad indeed, but calmunder these heavy losses.
The disease passed away; and when I was sufficiently recovered toexamine my position, I saw myself mistress of a fine house, left me bymy poor cousin, with all her books, papers, musical instruments, andother things, too numerous to mention.
It was on looking over the store of articles which I became thusunexpectedly possessed of, that I discovered a bundle of letters,written in a bold, Cat-like style. Although the ink had become pale withtime, and many parts were torn into holes, I yet managed to make outtheir contents, and learn that they had been written to my cousin in heryouth by some Cat of noble birth, who had wished to marry her, but whoseattentions she had for some reason refused. Perhaps she had regretted itafterwards, and for that reason had always lived alone; perhaps he haddied, or left the city, or----a number of ideas came into my mind abouthim, and I even tried to imagine what he was like, and whether he at allresembled the Tom in black I had been so rude to some time before.
A SELECT CLASS.]
I then began to consider what I should do with the packet. When Ireflected that my cousin had never mentioned the subject, or even thename of her correspondent, I thought the only plan was to be equallysilent, and, in order to avoid the remarks of others, put the letters inthe fire; for, although I had read them myself, I felt quite persuadedshe had no wish that they should be generally known. My resolution wassoon taken; and casting the papers one by one into the flames, I watchedthem slowly burn until there was a little black heap of ashes on thehearth. The last letter was in my paw; I tore it in halves, and threwthe first sheet on to the pile; the second was just going the sameway, when my eye caught sight of two verses of a song, which I had notobserved till then. I stopped and read them th
rough: they were stanzasI had sometimes heard my cousin sing; and although I do not think so muchof them now as I did at the time, I preserved them from the flames, andnow insert them here in memory of so kind and gentle a Cat:--
With others I may frisk and play, With others I may talk and sing, With others pass the live-long day, And find, time flies with rapid wing: A friend (I seek not to deceive) I may, perchance, to others be; But, ah! my darling Puss! believe, I purr, I only purr for thee!
Thy form is stamp'd upon that heart, Which, true to thee, will beat till death; Thy praises, dear one that thou art, Will mingle with my latest breath. Deign, then, to smile upon my suit, Nor heedlessly my vows refuse; But trust the honour of the brute Who seeks to win thee with his muse!
The education I had received, and the advantages I possessed in theway of books, joined to my present loneliness, induced me to carry outan idea that had more than once entered my head, and which my kindrelation, when alive, had strongly encouraged. This was to get togetherthe Kittens of some of my friends who were anxious to obtain knowledge,and impart to them some portion of that I had myself acquired,--inbrief, to keep a school.
I never ceased to remember the words of my poor cousin when speaking onthis subject. "My dear," she had often said, "it is the duty of everyCat in this world to make herself useful; she is sent here for thatpurpose, depend upon it; and although all Cats cannot be useful in thesame way or to the same extent, some being placed in very differentcircumstances to others, _every_ Cat, rich or poor, _may_ do a certainamount of useful work, which if she neglects, she is wicked. Noemployment is so honourable as that of teaching to others the learningwe have ourselves attained; for learning destroys prejudice, makes usbetter as well as wiser, and helps us to bear with greater fortitudethe calamities of life. As you have yourself acquired learning, you maytherefore show your usefulness by imparting it to others; and dependupon it, no consolation will be greater to you in hours of misfortune,and even on your bed of death, than the thought that you have not spentyour life in vain!"
It was with such sanction that I entered on my new career. Each daymight I have been seen, perched upon a high-backed chair, with bookin hand, examining my class as it stood up before me; a rod within myreach to frighten evil-doers, the inattentive, and the careless; andsometimes, with a dunce of a Kitten before me standing upon a form, withan ugly cap upon her head, on account of some terrible breach of goodmanners, or an extra amount of stupidity in conning her tasks.