The Cat

by Banjo Paterson

Most people think that the cat is an unintelligent animal, lazy, and doesn't care about anything except mice and milk. But a cat has more personality than most human beings and enjoys life a lot more.

He – or she – is an athlete, a musician, and a fierce fighter. All day long the cat lies around the house, relaxes, sleeps by the fire, and allows himself to be annoyed by women and children. He sometimes watches a mouse-hole for an hour or two – just to keep himself from dying of boredom; and people think that this sort of thing is all a cat does. But watch him as the darkness of evening comes and you will see the cat as he really is.

When the family sits down for a meal, the cat arrives to get something to eat. He makes a loving noise and pushes himself against the legs of the family; but during this time he is thinking of a fight or a love affair that will happen that evening. If there is a guest at the table the cat is kind to him, because the guest probably has the best food. Sometimes, instead of rewarding this kindness by giving the cat something to eat, the guest touches him, and says, "Poor cat! Poor cat!"

The cat will quickly get bored with this, and will calmly, but certainly, put his claws into the guest's leg. "Ow!" says the guest, "the cat scratched me!" The delighted family replies, "Isn't he intelligent? He wants you to give him something to eat."

The guest doesn't do what he would like to do – kick the cat at the window – so, with tears of anger and pain in his eyes, he takes a bit of fish from his plate and hands it down. The cat carefully receives it, with a look in his eyes that says: "Another time, my friend, you won't take so long to feed me," and walks away before eating the piece of fish. A cat isn't a fool – not at all!

When the family has finished their meal and sits round the fire to enjoy the hours of indigestion, the cat slowly leaves the room and disappears. Life, true life, now begins for him.

He steps into his own garden and easily jumps to the top of the fence, drops lightly down on the other side, walks across the street and jumps to the roof of an empty shed. As he goes, he forgets his gentle behaviour and becomes like a panther; he looks quickly from side to side and moves noiselessly because he has so many enemies – dogs, taxi drivers, and small boys with stones.

Now on the top of the roof of the shed, the cat scratches his claws once or twice into the wood shed. As he does this, he turns slowly to make sure that every muscle is working. Finally, he lets out a "meow" – that is his call to other cats – it is a call to love or war or sport.

Before long they come like shadows, getting slowly nearer and stopping to explore. No longer are they the gentle creatures who, one hour ago, were asking for fish and milk. They are now tough street-fighters. Their fights are serious and dangerous and a cat can be seriously hurt before he will stop fighting.

Even young lady cats use their jealousy and hatred in a fight on a roof. All cats fight, and all keep themselves in training while they are young. Your cat may be the lightweight champion of his neighbourhood!

Just think how much more he gets out of his life than you do out of yours – all of that fighting and love-making that he does. You have had one little love affair and never had a good, all-out fight in your life!

And the fun they have, too! As they get older and stop fighting, they enjoy life in a more organised way; the gardens that are to us only ordinary are to them hunting-grounds where they may have more adventure than any king or hero ever had.

Think about a cat that decides to kill a caged bird in a neighbouring garden. It is not an easy job. The cat has to be quiet as it jumps from the top of the fence. It has to be careful not to wake the house-dog. And then it must get close to the bird noiselessly. It will scratch, bite and hit the bird and then pull the broken body of the bird through the cage. The best part is when he arrives home at breakfast-time and the housewife says: "Tom must be sick; he doesn’t seem to want his food."

People always say that cats enjoy their home more than the people in it. Of course, the cat doesn't like to leave his country, the land where all his friends are, and where he is very comfortable. If he lived in a strange land, he would have to learn where everything was, to annoy another group of dogs, to fight and make love to new cats.

Life isn't long enough for those things. So, when the family moves to another house, the cat will try to stay at the old one with the new people there. He will give them the pleasure of letting him live with them while he enjoys life in his own way. He is not going to change his whole career from loyalty to his old friends.