REFLECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS.
There is no place so conducive to reflection as the quiet of one'sbedchamber, when confined to it by sickness. It is true, when theillness is violent, pain for the time excludes every thought beyond thatof the actual suffering,--for pain makes us all very, very selfish; butwhen the bodily suffering is over, and our meditations come back intotheir usual channel; when we are in a state of convalescence, and areabout shortly to resume our intercourse with the world, a crowd ofthoughts comes trooping from our brains, and we live over again much ofour former lives, and imagine beforehand scenes of our life to come.
At least it was so with me. When I had recovered from the fever intowhich the disagreeable events related in the last Chapter had thrown me,I ran over in my recollection everything that had occurred to me up tothe present time. I was again a thoughtless Kitten, gamboling on thegreen, playing with my own tail, or resisting with all my might theefforts of my poor mother to lick me clean! Again I wandered in thefields with my young companions, clambered trees for birds, or hidmyself away in solitary places for stray rats! I once more hearkened tomy dead cousin's voice, as she warbled one of her pretty songs; and asI still went on reflecting, I was again sitting in the arbour, listeningto the deep tones of Senhor Dickie, until the malicious face of myneighbour's daughter, peering at us from the broken paling, broke inupon my thoughts, and I heard the vile malicious screams and hisses ofthe ill-bred Cats which had caused his abrupt departure and my presentconfinement. It was a bitter recollection; and, as I recalled the scene,I hid my face in my paws and mewed aloud.
As I got calmer I meditated upon what was best to be done. I would havedespised the reports of cruelty which I was sure were spread abroadagainst me, and have continued my school, if my scholars had feltinclined to resume their lessons; but as they had not come back afterthe first day, that resource was denied me. Without some occupation, Ifelt certain I could not bear the being at war with my neighbours; foralthough I had done nothing unkind, they evidently believed I had; andas there was no opportunity of convincing them of the truth, I sufferedjust as much as if I had been guilty.
One road was yet open to me; and as I thought of it my eyes brightenedup, and a low purr of satisfaction unconsciously broke from my bosom--Icould travel! This idea had no sooner entered my head than it tookentire possession of me, and drove everything else out of my thoughts.I wished to be at once well and strong, in order to carry out mynew-formed resolution. The prospect of a speedy change, and the thoughtof seeing new countries and other animals, produced at once a favourableeffect, and not many days elapsed before I was able to sit up and resumesome of my usual habits.
I did not venture into the garden, for fear of again exciting theremarks of my rude neighbours; but I sat by the door, and looked outupon the green trees, and the blue sky, and the lively birds, with adelight I cannot describe.
How beautiful does all nature seem after we have been deprived for sometime, by illness, of the pleasure of looking upon it! How delicious isthe air! how sweet the perfume of the flowers! and how agreeable to thesense the hum of each fly as it basks in the sunshine, cleaning itsglittering wings, or darts in and out and round and round in chase ofsome companion! It is worth being ill, to enjoy such pure happiness, andto feel the gratitude which gushes up from our hearts at being permittedto see again the loveliness of creation.
It has been said by more than one animal, that Cats are such selfishcreatures that they are envious of the enjoyments of others, and canfeel no pleasure beyond their own particular gratifications. I deny thatthis is the truth. I, a Cat, boldly affirm, in defence of my tribe, thatthey are capable of as strong and unselfish affections as those of anyother beasts; and although, as my cousin told me, when in the service ofman they display a different character, such character must not beconsidered as their true one, but rather forced upon them by their stateof servitude and the want of confidence reposed in them. Even under suchdisadvantageous circumstances, I have heard that they often discovertraits of kindness and fidelity, and receive many slights and insultswith a patience which would do honour to their masters themselves.
As I had no one to consult about my departure, or the day I should setforth, I was not interrupted in my preparations, for I was too anxiousmyself to obtain a change of scene, to have any delay when I once beganmy arrangements.
My house was put in order; my box was packed; my servants received theirinstructions, and were put on board-wages till my return. I promisedto write to them when an opportunity offered, to inform them of myadventures, and let them know my opinions concerning the manners offoreign countries.
BON VOYAGE!]
The morning at length arrived when I was to take my departure. Dressedin my second-best clothes, with a parasol in one paw,--for the sun washot,--and with my travelling-bag, containing a few necessaries, in theother, I ventured into the streets for the first time since thatmemorable evening. A stout cur, whom I had hired as a valet to accompanyand protect me, walked behind me with my trunk upon his head; and as Iturned from the door I perceived my servants, and some other Cats whom Ihad at times assisted, watching me as I went, and bidding me a mournfuladieu. I was affected by their gestures, and should have been more so,but that I was still in sight of my neighbours' dwellings, and wasapprehensive of some disagreeable remarks. Fortunately none of them werevisible. I passed their houses; I got out of the very street, but nottill I had stopped at the corner and given a quiet mew to the villawhere I had spent so many pleasant days, and which I was now leavingperhaps for ever. We moved on through the Cats' quarter, across one ortwo streets inhabited by the Dogs, and out into the open country. Wesoon left behind us the few straggling houses which were at the entranceof the town, and, mounting a hill, paused when we had gained the summit,partly to give a last look at the city, but more to rest my companion,who declared that his legs would never get straight again from the heavyburden which had bent them down, and that the rope with which the boxwas tied was positively cutting his head in two.
I reclined upon a grassy bank, and nibbled a few blades while deep inthought; but my valet, "Snub," made a more substantial use of his time;for, squatting himself down on his own hat, with his legs under him, tomy horror he pulled out a half-devoured bone, which he began to gnawwith much appetite. I did not think this very becoming conduct in thevalet of a genteel Pussy; but as it was not the time to find fault,I allowed him to pick his bone, and gazed long and tenderly upon thatcity where I had been born and brought up, and which I was now leavingfor strange climes, and for the society of animals of whose verylanguage I was perhaps ignorant.
We now descended the hill, Snub carrying the box with a little morecomfort to himself, having placed his hat between the sharp cord andhis own broad, flat head; and on reaching the bottom we found that anextensive wood lay before us, without any trace which seemed to showthere was a high-road through it. While stopping to consult what was thebest course to take, an animal came from behind a large tree, and withmany bows advanced towards us. His appearance startled me not a little,for I could not at first make out who or what he was. I at lengthdiscovered that he was a Fox, a tribe distantly related to the Dogs, butso little liked by them that very few ever came into Caneville, andthose who did so, clipped their ears and trimmed their tails so as toalter their look as much as possible to the animals among whom theypresented themselves. This Fox, on the contrary, wore all his nativeluxuriance of fur, and, by the way he carried his great brush of a tail,seemed not a little proud of it.
When he got within a few steps of us, he addressed me in brokenCaneville dialect, and offered his services to show me the way throughthe wood. "It was a short cut," he said, "and would save me a good dealof ground, which I should be obliged to go over if I went round theforest."
Without paying attention to the nods or winks of Snub, which werehowever so violent as almost to upset his load, I accepted his politeoffer with thanks, and bidding my valet, who walked very glumpilybehind, to keep close by,
I followed my polite guide, who at onceentered a little path through two tall trees.
The shade grew thicker as we advanced, and I observed that the pathgot not only narrower, but was in some places almost invisible. It wasevidently very little used, and unaccustomed as I had been of late tothe country, I did not feel quite comfortable in thus penetrating deeperand deeper into the solitude; still I did not like to show any fear,more particularly as I was rather annoyed at the conduct of Snub, who,close behind me with the box upon his head, kept grumbling at its weightone minute, and actually growling in an under-tone at our guide thenext.
The conduct of that guide did not exactly please me; for in his evidentwish to prevent my being alarmed, he kept chatter, chatter, chatter,with all his might, and still went on, his sharp eyes here, there, andeverywhere at once, in a most disagreeable manner.
We at last reached an open space, covered over with grass, and here andthere strewn with immense masses of rock. The overhanging branches ofthe trees were, however, so closely intertwined, that no ray of sun, andvery little light, could penetrate into it. Here I stopped short anddeclared I would go no further; an exclamation which seemed to arouseMr. Fox's anger, for he came towards me with a threatening look thatalarmed me not a little. I stepped back to avoid him, when Snub--as ifby accident, although I felt sure the good dog knew perfectly well whathe was about--by a dexterous stumble pitched the box off his head rightagainst the Fox. It was only by the greatest agility that he avoided theheavy weight falling on and crushing him; as it was, he could not gethis long tail out of the way in time, for the box came plump down uponit and nailed him to the ground in the most effectual manner. In vain hescreamed and pulled; the weight was heavier than he could get rid of;and the more he pulled and screamed, the greater was Snub's delight, whocapered round him, wagging his own tail with wonderful swiftness in theintensity of his satisfaction.
After having kept him a prisoner for a good hour, and forced him toconfess that he had led us into the wood with the intention of robbingus, and even worse, Snub cut a piece of cord from off the box and tyingit round Mr. Fox's neck, and then fast to the trunk again, lifted thelatter on to his head, and ordered the treacherous guide, under penaltyof instant death, to lead us back at once to the place we had startedfrom. The wounded beast was forced to obey; so taking his mutilated tailin his paw, with a thousand apologies,--to which Snub made no otherreply than to bid him to "look sharp" (a very unnecessary piece ofadvice, as his face could scarce have been sharper than it was), and towhich I made no answer at all,--he walked on in front of us, keeping atas great a distance from his tormentor as the length of the cord wouldallow him.
We reached, after some time, the place where we had entered the wood,when Snub, advising our polite conductor to be more honest for thefuture, undid the knot which bound him to the trunk and set him againat liberty. The Fox no sooner found himself free, than, with a cry ofsatisfaction, anger, and defeated wickedness, he darted back among thetrees, and was instantly out of sight.