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In Art
i^h
and
Poetry
Yes the Rum Turn Tugger is a

Curious Cat —
And there isn't any call for

me to shout it:

For he will do
As he do do
And there's no doing

anything about it!

he catchy words of Nobel laureate


T. S. Eliot perfectly capture why
we're so captivated by those fabulous

felines. And in this charming collec-

tion, illustrated with works from The


Metropolitan Museum of Art, cats

come to tea, lose their mittens, go to

London to look at the queen, go to


sea in a beautiful pea-green boat, and
generally do as they "do do," in art

and poetry. Poems by classic writers,

including Emily Dickinson, William

Blake, Vikram Seth, Kate Greenaway,

Langston Hughes, and William Carlos


Williams, are paired with cat images

from around the world, including a

court painting by Goya, a Currier &


Ives lithograph, a Chinese hanging
scroll, an ancient Egyptian figurine,
an Arthur Rackham illustration, and
a cabaret poster by Toulouse-Lautrec.

will enjoy meeting each one of these


curious cats.
The Rum Turn Tugger is a Curious Cat:
If you offer him pheasant he would rather have grouse.
If you put him in a house he would much prefer a flat,

If you put him in a flat then he'd rather have a house.

If you set him on a mouse then he only wants a rat,

If you set him on a rat then he'd rather chase a mouse.

Yes the Rum Turn Tugger is a Curious Cat—


And there isn't any call for me to shout it:

For he will do
As he do do
And there's no doing anything about it!

—from The Rum Turn Tugger


T. S. Eliot, English, 1888-1965
Curious
Cats
In Art and Poetry

THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART


ATHENEUM BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS
New York
P

Except where noted, the works of art depicted in this book are from the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

COVER: Cat (detail), Toko (Oide Makolo), Japanese, 1841-1905, Ink and colors on silk, I4\ x I I in.

ENDPAPERS: The Harrowing Tale of a Cat and a Guinea Pig, A Terrible End to a Goldfish,

More Bread Than Butter!, The Cat and the Frog, Theophile-Alexandre Steinlen, French, 1865—1923,
Photorelief etchings from Des Chats: Images Sans Paroles QCats: Pictures Without Words), 1898

TITLE PA6E: Little Grey Cat, Elizabeth Norton, American, 1887—?, Printed color woodcut, 5!i x 4% in.

COPYRIGHT PAGE: Two Cats, Felix Vallolton, French, 1865-1925, Woodcut front Pan, 2'A x 2'A in., 1895

CONTENTS PAGE: Zoetrope strip, British, late 1860s

BACK FLAP: A Terrible End to a Goldfish (detail), Theophile-Alexandre Steinlen, French, 1865-1923,
Photorelief etching from Des Chats: Images Sans Paroles (Cats: Pictures Without Words), 1898

BACK COVER: Poster calendar cover, Edward Penfield, American, 1866—1925, Commercial lithograph poster, 14 x 1 0's in., 1897

Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Atheneum Books for Young Readers


An imprint of Simon O- Schuster Children's Publishing Division

1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020

Visit the Museum's Web site: www.metmuseum.org


Visit Simon and Schuster's Web site: www.SimonSaysKids.com

Copyright © 1999 by The Metropolitan Museum of Art

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form

or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner and publisher.

For acknowledgments of the use of copyrighted material, please see page 48.

First Edition

Printed in Hong Kong


08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 99 5 4 3 2 1

Produced by the Department of Special Publications, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

All photography by The Metropolitan Museum of Art Photograph Studio


except for pages 22—23, courtesy of the British Museum
Edited by William Lach; Designed by Anna Raff

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Curious cats : In art and poetry / edited by William Lach.


p. cm.
Summary: Classic poems about cats are matched with works of art from the collections of
the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

ISBN 0-87099-897-8 (MMA). - ISBN 0-689-83055-6 (Atheneum)


I. Cats —Juvenile poetry. 2. Cats art —Juvenile literature. 3. Children's poetry.
in

[I. Cats— Poetry. 2. Cats in art. 3. Poetry— Collections.] I. Lach, William, 1968- .

PN6II0.C3C87 1999 99-11663


BR BR 808.8 '93629752-DC2
1 1 C I

J
PN6110
.C3
C37
1999
CONTENTS
T. S. Eliot from The Rum Turn Tugger I

Introduction 7

William Blake The Tyger 9

Palmer Cox The Lazy Pussy 10

Emily Dickinson She Sights a Bird 13

Eliza Lee Follen The Three Little Kittens 14

Kate Greenaway The Cats Have Come to Tea 17

Langston Hughes A Lion 18

Kobayashi Issa Three Cat Haiku 21

Edward Lear The Owl and the Pussy-cat 22

Vachel Lindsay The Mysterious Cat 25

Mother Goose Three Cat Rhymes 26

Pablo Neruda from Ode to the Cat 29

John Ruskin from Dame Wiggins of Lee and Her Seven Wonderful Cats 30

Vikram Seth from The Cat and the Cock 33

Stevie Smith Nipping Pussy's Feet in Fun/Cat Asks Mouse Out 34

Jonathan Swift from A Fable of the Widow and Her Cat 37

Traditional Kilkenny Cats 38

William Carlos Williams Poem 4

William Wordsworth from The Kitten and Falling Leaves 42

Jang'hi Yi The Spring Is a Cat 45

Christopher Smart from Jubilate Agno 46

Credits 48

t^ 5*^
BAD8ERED CAT.
May Beljort

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, French, 1864-1901


Color lithograph, 3VA x 2VA in., 1895
INTRODUCTION
nearly every continent, across epochs and dynasties, from the famous
From
and the unknown, works of and poetry
the art in this collection have one
thing in common: the curious cat. In haiku, limerick, and nursery rhyme;
in painting, sculpture, and zoetrope strip; the many feisty felines presented here
share surprising similarities.

Christopher Smarts blessing to his pet Jeoffry, written in eighteenth-century England,


describes the same tigerlike qualities visible in an Egyptian tomb painting made
thirty centuries earlier. Emily Dickinsons suspenseful rhyme of a kitty and one lucky
bird matches Francisco de Goya's court painting of the same spellbinding scenario.

And, with soft fur, sharp whiskers, and golden eyes, the luxurious cat described in

Jang'hi Yi's poem seems to stare out at us from the Indian watercolor next to it.

Whether fanciful, as in the Mother Goose rhyme of a

pussycat that visited the queen, or ferocious, as in


French primitivist Henri Rousseau's stirring Repast

oj the Lion, the felines in this collection do as they like,

when they like. And just as cats are forever curious

about the world, the art and poetry in this

collection prove that the world was, is, and


always will be deeply curious about cats.

—William Lach, Editor

Detail of a wood engraving


Gustave Dore, French, 1832-1883
From Les Contes de Perrault by Charles Perrault, Paris, 1899
The Tyger
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright What the hammer, what the chain?

In the forests of the night, In what furnace was thy brain?


What immortal hand or eye What the anvil, what dread grasp
Could frame thy fearful symmetry? Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

In what distant deeps or skies When the stars threw down their spears,

Burnt the fire of thine eyes? And water'd heaven with their tears,

On what wings dare he aspire? Did he smile his work to see?

What the hand dare seize the fire? Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

And what shoulder, & what art, Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
Could twist the sinews of thy heart? In the forests of the night,

And when thy heart began to beat, What immortal hand or eye

What dread hand? & what dread feet? Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

—William Blake, English, 1757-1827

The Tyger
William Blake, English, 1757-1827
From Songs of Innocence and Experience, 1789
Relief etching printed in color, 4% x 2% in.

The Lazy Pussy


There lives a good-for-nothing cat,

So lazy it appears,

That chirping birds can safely come


And light upon her ears.

And rats and mice can venture out


To nibble at her toes,
Or climb around and pull her tail,

And boldly scratch her nose.

Fine servants brush her silken coat


And give her cream for tea;

Yet she's a good-for-nothing cat,

As all the world may see.

— Palmer Cox, American, 1840-1924

Spring Play in a Tang Garden (detail)


Chinese, Qing dynasty, 1644-1912
Handscroll, color on silk, 14% in. x 8 ft. 8 in.

10
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1
She Sights a Bird
She sights a Bird —she chuckles
She flattens —then she crawls
She runs without the look of feet

Her eyes increase to Balls

Her Jaws stir —twitching—hungry


Her Teeth can hardly stand
She leaps, but Robin leaped the first

Ah, Pussy, of the Sand,

The Hopes so juicy ripening


You almost bathed your Tongue
When Bliss disclosed a hundred Toes
And fled with every one

—Emily Dickinson, American, 1830-1886

Don Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zuhiga (detail)


Francisco de Goya y Lucientes, Spanish, 1746-1828
Oil on canvas, 50 x 40 in.
The Three Little Kittens

Three little kittens lost their mittens; The three little kittens found their mittens;

And they began to cry, And they began to cry,

"Oh, mother dear, "Oh, mother dear,


We very much fear See here, see here!

That we have lost our mittens." See, we have found our mittens!"

"Lost your mittens! "Put on your mittens,

You naughty kittens! You silly kittens,

Then you shall have no pie!" And you may have some pie."

"Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow." "Purr-r, purr-r, purr-r,

"No, you shall have no pie." Oh, let us have the pie!

"Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow." Purr-r, purr-r, purr-r."

Details of an embroidered carpet


Zeruah Higley Guernsey Caswell, American, 1805-71895
Wool embroidery on wool, 13 ft. 4 in. x 12 ft. 3 in., 1835

14
The three little kittens put on their mittens, The three little kittens washed their mittens,

And soon ate up the pie; And hung them out to dry;

"Oh, mother dear, "Oh, mother dear,


We greatly fear Do not you hear
That we have soiled our mittens!" That we have washed our mittens?"

"Soiled your mittens! "Washed your mittens!

You naughty kittens!" Oh, you're good kittens!

Then they began to sigh, But I smell a rat close by,

"Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow." Hush, hush! Mee-ow, mee-ow"


Then they began to sigh, "We smell a rat close by,

"Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow." Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow."

— Eliza Lee Follen, American, 1787-1860


The Cats Have Come to Tea
What did she see — oh, what did she see,

As she stood leaning against the tree?

Why all the Cats had come to tea.

What a fine turn out — from round about,


All the houses had let them out,

And here they were with scamper and shout.

"Mew —mew—mew!" was all they could say,

And, "We hope we find you well to-day."

Oh, what should she do — oh, what should she do?


What a lot of milk they would get through;

For here they were with "Mew —mew—mew!"


She didn't know —oh, she didn't know,
If bread and butter they'd like or no;

They might want little mice, oh! oh! oh!

Dear me — oh, dear me,

All the cats had come to tea.

— Kate Greenaway, English, 1846-1901

Compagnie Francaise des Chocolats et des Thes


Theophile-Alexandre Steinlen, French, 1859-1923
Color lithograph poster, 40 x 30 in., 1899
A Lion
A lion in a zoo,

Shut up in a cage,
Lives a life

Of smothered rage.

A lion in the plain,

Roaming free,

Is happy as ever

A lion can be.

—Langston Hughes, American, 1902-1967

The Repast oj the Lion (detail)

Henri -Julien-Felix Rousseau (le Douanier),


French, 1844-1910
Oil on canvas, 44% x 63 in.

18
„v
Three Cat Haiku

Flopped on the fan,

the big cat

sleeping.

My cat,

frisking in the scale,

records its weight.

%
The big cat

frisks its tail,

toying with the butterfly

-Kobayashi Issa, Japanese, 1763-1827


Hass
translation Robert

Asakusa Rice Fields and Torinomachi Festival

Utagawa Hiroshige, Japanese, 1797-1858


From the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo
Polychrome woodblock print, 13% x 8% in., 1857

21
The Owl and the Pussy-cat
The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea

In a beautiful pea-green boat,

They took some honey, and plenty of money,

Wrapped up in a five-pound note.

The Owl looked up to the stars above,

And sang to a small guitar,

"O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love,

What a beautiful Pussy you are,

You are,

You are!

What a beautiful Pussy you are!"

The Owl and the Pussy-cat


Edward Lear, English, 1812-1888
From Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany, and Alphabets, 8% in. x 6% in.

Published London, Robert John Bush, 1871


First edition, Quarto with wood engravings

22
Pussy said to the Owl, "You elegant fowl!
How charmingly sweet you sing!
O let us be married! too long we have tarried:

But what shall we do for a ring?"

They sailed away, for a year and a day,

To the land where the Bong-tree grows,


And there in a wood a Piggy- wig stood,

With a ring at the end of his nose,

His nose,
His nose,
With a ring at the end of his nose.

"Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling

Your ring?" Said the Piggy, "1 will."

So they took it away, and were married next day

By the Turkey who lives on the hill.

They dined on mince, and slices of quince,

Which they ate with a runcible spoon;

And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,

They danced by the light of the moon,


The moon,
The moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.

—Edward Lear, English, 1812-1888

23
The Mysterious Cat
I saw a proud, mysterious cat,

I saw a proud, mysterious cat,

Too proud to catch a mouse or rat

Mew, mew, mew

But catnip she would eat, and purr,

But catnip she would eat, and purr.

And goldfish she did much prefer

Mew, mew, mew

I saw a cat
— 'twas but a dream,

I saw a cat
— 'twas but a dream
Who scorned the slave that brought her cream
Mew, mew, mew

Unless the slave were dressed in style,

Unless the slave were dressed in style,

And knelt before her all the while

Mew, mew, mew

Did you ever hear of a thing like that?

Did you ever hear of a thing like that?

Did you ever hear of a thing like that?

Oh, what a proud, mysterious cat.

Oh, what a proud, mysterious cat.

Oh, what a proud, mysterious cat.

Mew. . . mew. . . mew.

—Vachel Lindsay, American, 1879-1931

Woman, Child, and Cat


Detail of a color lithograph postcard
Unknown artist of the Wiener Werkstatte, Austrian, 57 x 37 in., ca. 1910

25

Three Cat Rhymes

Hey, diddle, diddle,

The cat and the fiddle,

The cow jumped over the moon;


The little dog laughed
To see such sport,
And the dish ran away with the spoon.

%
Pussy-cat, pussy-cat, where have you been?
"I've been to London to look at the queen."
Pussy-cat, pussy-cat, what did you there?

"I frightened a little mouse under her chair."

35,

A cat came fiddling out of a barn,

With a pair of bagpipes under her arm;


She could sing nothing but fiddle-de-dee,
The mouse has married the bumble-bee;

Pipe, cat —dance, mouse


We'll have a wedding at our good house.

—Mother Goose (Anonymous), English, 18th century

Hc\i Diddle, Diddle, the Cat and the Fiddle'


Arthur Rackham, English, 1867-1939
From Mother Goose, The Old Nursery Rhymes, 9 / \
1
7'/< in.

26
i
from Ode to the Cat
There was something wrong
with the animals:
their tails were too long, and they had
unfortunate heads.
Then they started coming together,

little by little

fitting together to make a landscape,

developing birthmarks, grace, pep.


But the cat,

only the cat


turned out finished,
and proud:
born in a state of total completion,

it sticks to itself and knows exactly what it wants.

Men would like to be fish or fowl,

snakes would rather have wings,


and dogs are would-be lions.

Engineers want to be poets,


flies emulate swallows,
and poets try hard to act like flies.

But the cat


wants nothing more than to be a cat,

and every cat is pure cat


from its whiskers to its tail,

from sixth sense to squirming rat,

from nighttime to its golden eyes.

-Pablo Neruda, Chilean, 1904-1973


translation Ken Krabbenhoft

Statue
Egyptian, Dynasty 26 or later (664-30 B.C.
Bronze, H. 11 in.

29
from Dame Wiggins of Lee
and Her Seven Wonderful Cats

Dame Wiggins of Lee So, as anyone idle

Was a worthy old soul She ne'er loved to see,

As e'er threaded a nee- She sent them to school,

dle or wash'd in a bowl: Did Dame Wiggins of Lee.

She held mice and rats The master soon wrote


In such antipathee, That they all of them knew
That seven fine cats How to read the word "milk"
Kept Dame Wiggins of Lee. And to spell the word "mew,"

The rats and mice scared And they all washed their faces

By this fierce-whiskered crew, Before they took tea.

The poor seven cats Were there ever such dears?

Soon had nothing to do; Said Dame Wiggins of Lee.

—John Ruskin, English, 1819-1900

Woodcut
Kate Greenaway, English, 1846-1901
From Dame Wiggins of Lee and Her Seven Wonderful Cats, 7% x 4%<. in.

30
from The Cat
and the Cock

Once a certain cat and cock,


Friendship founded on a rock,
Lived together in a house
In the land of Fledermaus.

Each loved music in his way,

And the cock, at break of day

Chanted: "Cock-a-doodle-doo!
Kiki-riki —Kuk-ru-koo !

"

While his cat-friend, in the middle


Of the night, would play the fiddle.

Sometimes they would play together


—Handsome fur and fancy feather

And the pair would dance and sing


While the house with joy would ring.

—Vikram Seth, Indian, b. 1952

Detail of an embroidered theater curtain


Chinese, 19th century
Wool flannel, silk, and metallic thread, 10 ft. 8S4 in. x 6 ft. 8 in.

33
Nipping Pussy's Feet in Fun

This is not kind.

Oh Mr. Pussy-Cat

My, you are sweet!


How do you get about so much
On those tiny feet?
Nip, nip; miaou, miaou,

Tiny little feet,

Nip, nip pussy-cat


My, you are sweet!

Cat Asks Mouse Out

But then neither is this.

Mrs. Mouse
Come out of your house
It is a fine sunny day
And I am waiting to play.

Bring the little mice too


And we can run to and fro.

— Stevie Smith, English, 1902-1971

Detail oi a handscroll

Kawanabe Kyosai (Gyosai), Japanese, 1831-1889


Ink and wash on paper, 10 A in. x 20 ft. 8 in., Meiji period
:

34
from A Fable of the
Widow and Her Cat
A widow kept a favorite cat,

At first a gentle creature;

But when he was grown sleek and fat,

With many a mouse, and many a rat,

He soon disclosed his nature.

The fox and he were friends of old,

Nor could they now be parted;

They nightly slunk to rob the fold,

Devoured the lambs, the fleeces sold,

And Puss grew lion-hearted.

—Jonathan Swift, English, 1667-1745

The Favorite Cat (detail)


Nathaniel Currier, publisher, American, 1813-1888
Hand-colored lithograph, l2Ye x 8'A in., ca. 1840-60

37
Kilkenny Cats

There once were two cats of Kilkenny,


Each thought there was one cat too many;
So they fought and they fit,

And they scratched and they bit,

Till, excepting their nails


And the tips of their tails,

Instead of two cats there weren't any.

— Traditional

Harper's July (detail)


Edward Penfield, American, 1866-1925
Commercial lithograph poster, 14 x 20 in, 1898

38
T ?

«
»
Poem
As the cat

climbed over
the top of

the jamcloset

first the right

forefoot

carefully

then the hind


stepped down

into the pit of

the empty
flowerpot

—William Carlos Williams, American, 1883-1963

Emma Homan (detail)

John Bradley, American, active 1832-47


Oil on canvas, 34 x 27% in., ca. 1843-44
from The Kitten and Falling Leaves

See the Kitten on the wall, Crouches, stretches, paws, and darts!
Sporting with the leaves that fall, First at one, and then its fellow

Withered leaves — one — two — and three Just as light and just as yellow;

From the lofty elder-tree! There are many now — now one
Through the calm and frosty air Now they stop and there are none:

Of this morning bright and fair, What intenseness of desire

Eddying round and round they sink In her upward eye of fire!

Softly, slowly: one might think, With a tiger-leap half-way

From the motions that are made, Now she meets the coming prey,

Every little leaf conveyed Lets it go as fast, and then


Sylph or Faery hither tending, Has it in her power again:

To this lower world descending, Now she works with three or four,

Each invisible and mute, Like an Indian conjurer;

In his wavering parachute. Quick as he in feats of art,

— But the Kitten, how she starts. Far beyond in joy of heart.

—William Wordsworth, English, 1770-1850

Cat and Yellow Butterfly (detail)


Xu Beihong, Chinese, 1895-1953
Hanging scroll, ink and colors on paper, 44 x 2VA in., 1941

42
The Spring Is a Cat

On a cats fur soft as pollen,

The mild Spring's fragrance lingers.

In a cats eyes round as golden bells,

The mad Spring's flame glows.

On a cat's gently closed lips,

The soft Spring's drowsiness lies.

On a cat's sharp whiskers,

The green Spring's life dances.

—Jang'hi Yi, Korean, 1902-1928


translation Chang Soo Ko

Zenana Scene (detail)

Indian, 18th century


Opaque watercolor and gold on paper, 7% x 5 in.

45
from Jubilate Agno
For I will consider my Cat Jeoffry.

For he is the servant of the Living God duly and daily serving him.
For at the first glance of the glory of God in the East he worships in his way.

For is this done by wreathing his body seven times round with elegant quickness.

For then he leaps up to catch the musk, which is the blessing of God upon his prayer.

For he rolls upon prank to work it in.

For having done duty and received blessing he begins to consider himself.

For this he performs in ten degrees.


For first he looks upon his fore-paws to see if they are clean.

For secondly he kicks up behind to clear away there.


For thirdly he works it upon stretch with the fore-paws extended.

For fourthly he sharpens his paws by wood.


For fifthly he washes himself.
For Sixthly he rolls upon wash.
For Seventhly he fleas himself, that he may not be interrupted upon the beat.

For Eighthly he rubs himself against a post.


For Ninthly he looks up for his instructions.

For Tenthly he goes in quest of food.


For having consider'd God and himself he will consider his neighbor.

For if he meets another cat he will kiss her in kindness.


For when he takes his prey he plays with it to give it chance.

For one mouse in seven escapes by his dallying.


For when his days work is done his business more properly begins.

For he keeps the Lords watch in the night against the adversary.
For he counteracts the powers of darkness by his electrical skin and glaring eyes.

For he counteracts the Devil, who is death, by brisking about the life.

For in his morning orisons he loves the sun and the sun loves him.
For he is of the tribe of Tiger.

-Christopher Smart, English, 1722-1771

Deiail of a facsimile of a wall painting in the Tomb of Scnnedjem


Egyptian (Thebes), ca. 1275 i

46

m^mmammmmm /•
-M> \ i_ / f f\V
CREDITS
Except where noted, the works of art depicted in this book are from the collections

of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Cover: Charles Stewart Smith Collection, Gift

of Mrs. Charles Stewart Smith, Charles Stewart Smith Jr., and Howard Caswell

Smith, in memory of Charles Stewart Smith, 1914 14.76.61.73. Endpapers: Gift of

Mrs. Edward C Moen, 1961 61.687.12. Title page: Gift of Elizabeth Norton, 1928

28.63.1. Copyright page: Thomas J. Watson Library, Rogers Fund, 1943.

Contents page: Gift of Lincoln Kirstein, 1970 1970.565.450. Page 6: Gift of Bessie

Potter Vonnoh, 1941 41.12.1. Introduction: Gift of Mrs. John Fiske, 1960 60.714.

Page 8: Rogers Fund, 1917 17.10.42. Page 11: Fletcher Fund, 1947 47.18.9. Page

12: The Jules Bache Collection, 1949 49.7.41. Pages 14-15: Gift of Kathanne

Keyes, in memory of her father, Homer Eaton Keyes, 1938 38.157. Page 16: Gift

of Bessie Potter Vonnoh, 1941 41.12.19. Page 19: Bequest of Sam A. Lewisohn,

1951 51.112.5. Page 20: Rogers Fund, 1914 JP 60. Pages 22-23: BM PD 1838-

5-14-2, © The Trustees of the British Museum. Page 24: Museum Accession, 1943.
The Cat That Walked by Himself
Page 27: Gift of Miss Fairchild Bowler, 1965 65.518.15. Page 28: Harris Brisbane
Rudyard Kipling, British, 1865-1936
Dick Fund, 1956 56.16.1. Page 31: Museum Accession, 1921 21.36.97. Page 32: From just So Stories for Little Children, London, 1902

Gift of FongChow, 1959 59.190. Page 35: Fletcher Fund, 1937 37.119.1. Page

36: Bequest of Adele S. Colgate, 1962 63.550.159. Page 39: Museum Accession,

1957 57.627.9(26). Page 40: Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, 1966 66.242.23. Page 43: Rogers Fund, 1956

56.129.2. Page 44: Theodore M. Davis Collection, Bequest of Theodore M. Davis, 1915 30.95.174, no. 26. Page 47: Rogers Fund, 1930

30.4.1. Credits page: Rogers Fund, 1974 1974.617.6. Back flap: Gift of Mrs. Edward C. Moen, 1961 61.687.12. Back cover: Gift of David

Silve, 1936 36.23.1.

Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following for permission to reprint the copyrighted matenal listed below. Excerpt from "The Rum
Turn Tugger," by T. S. Eliot, from Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, copyright © 1939 by T. S. Eliot and renewed 1967 by Esme Valerie Eliot,

reprinted & Company and Faber and Faber Ltd. "A Lion," by Langston Hughes, from The Sweet and Sour
by permission of Harcourt Brace

Animal Book, copynght © 1994 by Romana Bass & Arnold Rampersad, Administrators of the Estate of Langston Hughes, reprinted by permis-

sion of Oxford University Press, Inc. "Flopped on the fan. .


.," "My cat. .
.," and "The big cat. .
.," by Issa, from The Essential Haiku, edited by

Robert Hass, translation copyright © 1994 by Robert Hass, reprinted by permission of The Ecco Press. Excerpt from "Ode to the Cat," by

Pablo Neruda, from Odes to Common Things, copyright © 1994 by Pablo Neruda and Pablo Neruda Fundacion (odes in Spanish); compilation

and illustrations © by Ferris Cook; odes (English translation) © by Ken Krabbenhoft, reprinted by permission of Little, Brown and Company.

Excerpt from "The Cat and the Cock," by Vikram Seth, from Beastly Tales from Here and There, copyright © 1991 by Penguin Books India,

reprinted by permission of the author. "Nipping Pussy's Feet in Fun" and "Cat Asks Mouse Out," from The Collected Poems ofStevie Smith,

copynght © 1972 by Stevie Smith, reprinted by permission of New Directions Publishing Corp. and James MacGibbon. "Poem" (As the Cat),

by William Carlos Williams, from Collected Poems: 1909-1939, Volume 1, copyright © 1938 by New Directions Publishing Corp. and Carcanet

Press Ltd, reprinted by permission of New Directions Publishing Corp. and Carcanet Press Ltd. "The Spring Is a Cat," by Jang'hi Yi, translated

by Chang Soo Ko, from Best Loved Poems of Korea (Seoul: Hollym Corporation, 1984), reprinted by permission of the translator.

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