The Book, Cat, & Cat Book Lovers Almanac

of historical trivia regarding books, cats, and other animals. Actually this blog has evolved so that it is described better as a blog about cats in history and culture. And we take as a theme the advice of Aldous Huxley: If you want to be a writer, get some cats. Don't forget to see the archived articles linked at the bottom of the page.

April 21, 2009

April 21, 1828

The French writer Hippolyte Taine was born on April 21, 1828. We may gather his views on cats from numerous passages he wrote, like this, from a chapter in A Tour Through the Pyrennes, entitled, "The Life and Philosophical Opinions of a Cat."

"I have penetrated some of the secrets of nature. A dog is an animal so deformed, of such an unruly character, that from earliest times it has been considered to be a monster...How explain an animal that is forever in motion and busy...When beauty universally consists in suppleness, grace, and prudence...how allow an animals to be forever...jumping at the nose of people...When the favorite and masterpiece of creation is the cat, how explain an animals...that runs at it, without having received a single scratch from it...These contradictions prove that dogs are condemned beings...They spoil everything...and are chained three quarters of the day..."

If we wonder who could have penned such lines, the following is a clue. The text soon reveals: "No thinking cat has penetrated into the secret of the world so far as I."
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