Copy Book Archive

The Friendship of Cats A cat’s affection is not easy to win, but the rewards make the effort worthwhile.

In two parts

1869
Music: John Field

© Von grzanka, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0. Source

About this picture …

Playing hard-to-get... A ten-month old female kitten on the snow near Krzówka, about sixty-five miles southeast of Warsaw, Poland.

The Friendship of Cats

Part 1 of 2

Théophile Gautier was a French artist, critic and writer whose friends included Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas, and whose many admirers have included TS Eliot and Oscar Wilde. His ‘Ménagerie intime’ (1869) includes fond recollections of the many cats in his life.
Translated from the French

WINNING the friendship of a cat is a difficult business. The cat is a philosophical creature, methodical, quiet, tenacious of his habits, fond of order and cleanliness, who does not scatter his affections about indiscriminately.

He is quite ready to be your friend, should you prove worthy, but not your slave. In the midst of his tenderness he maintains free-will, and he will not do for you anything that he deems unreasonable.

But once he has given himself to you, what absolute confidence! what felicity of affection! He makes himself the companion of the hours of your solitude, melancholy, and toil.

Jump to Part 2

Précis

French writer Theophile Gautier said that although gaining the friendship of a cat is a ticklish business, for it has very fixed ways and clear ideas of what it wants, anyone who does so will find that a cat is a faithful companion in good times and bad. (48 / 60 words)

Part Two

© Tiago JG Fernandes, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0. Source

About this picture …

‘Sometimes he will look at you with eyes so melting, so mellow, so caressing and so human, it is almost scary.’ M. Gautier might have been talking about Oscar in this photo.

HE spends whole evenings on your lap, letting his purr run on, happy to be with you and forsaking the company of animals of his own species.

In vain do mewings wail upon the roof-tops, summoning him to one of those night-gatherings of cats in which a kipper takes the place of tea. He will not be tempted, but prolongs his vigil in your company.

If you put him down onto the floor, he will clamber back at once to his accustomed spot, with a sort of coo that is a gentle reproach.

Sometimes, as he stands before you, he will look at you with eyes so melting, so mellow, so caressing and so human, that it is almost scary: for it is impossible to suppose that there is no thinking mind behind them.

Copy Book

Précis

Gautier notes that a cat who has accepted you as a friend will demand exclusivity. He will no longer seek the companionship of other cats, preferring to spend all his time around you; but equally, he will expect you to spend your time with him, and such is his almost human intelligence and affection that no one could refuse. (59 / 60 words)

Source

Translated from the French of ‘Ménagerie intime’ by Théophile Gautier (1811-1872). See ‘Concerning Cats’ by Helen M. Winslow for another English translation.

Suggested Music

1 2

Piano Concerto No. 5 in C Major (‘Fire Through Storm’)

2: Adagio

John Field (1782-1837)

Performed by Mícéal O’Rourke with the London Mozart Players conducted by Matthias Bamert.

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Nocturne No. 6 in F Major (Andante)

John Field (1782-1837)

Played by Benjamin Frith.

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How To Use This Passage

You can use this passage to help improve your command of English.

IRead it aloud, twice or more. IISummarise it in one sentence of up to 30 words. IIISummarise it in one paragraph of 40-80 words. IVMake notes on the passage, and reconstruct the original from them later on. VJot down any unfamiliar words, and make your own sentences with them later. VIMake a note of any words that surprise or impress you, and ask yourself what meaning they add to the words you would have expected to see. VIITurn any old-fashioned English into modern English. VIIITurn prose into verse, and verse into prose. IXAsk yourself what the author is trying to get you to feel or think. XHow would an artist or a photographer capture the scene? XIHow would a movie director shoot it, or a composer write incidental music for it?

For these and more ideas, see How to Use The Copy Book.

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