HOW
thecat first got into Belgiumisnot known, but of the puss that was first seen in Japan, the record is full and
clear. There are,however,two stories, forthere are two kinds, wild and tame.
Japanese house catshavenotails. Thesethey never had, orlost themlong ago; andnow, most of themhavehardly enough to setupa rabbitin
business. Even if, in a litter of bob-tailed pus-
sies, a long-tailed kitten is born, out comes the carving knife and offgoes the caudal extension.
Cats in Japan must all be in fashion,. to be al-
lowed tolive in a housewithhuman beings.
So long as the Japanese puss stays at home,
licksitsfeet,andcleansitsface withitsforepaws, using these for both wash-rag and towel, the creature is considered respectable, and there is
no troublein eitherthe cator thehuman family.
There was a certain puss named Geiko (gay-ko), which is the Kyoto pronunciation of Geisha (gay-shah); because she was so accom- plished and so pretty, and made so muchmusic
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141 at night. ExceptthoseJapanesecats that, long ago, traveled to the Isle of Man, she was the
first modern member of the family that wished to reside abroad. Then according towhat her mothersaid,whotoldthe story of heradventures in Belgium her troubles began.
Nowthis is theway it came to pass.
It happened that a grandmotherpuss, named
Guitar, because shealsowassomusical, thatlived in Persimmon Street, in Kyoto, was inquired of,
by an inquisitive kitten, as to when, and how, and why, cats first came to Japan. Her mis- tress, a little girl, named Taka (tah-kah), or Falcon, who wenteverydayto school, had come homeandtold herthat, onceuponatime,Japan, being an island and the country made up of islands, there were no tame cats, but only wild ones. Now, would Grandma Guitar tell all
about her ancestors, and abouther Aunt Geiko,
who had gone to Europe?
So thatevening, after the six kittens had had
theirsupper,Grandmagatheredthemallaround her, and told how pet cats were first brought from China, into Japan, and to the Emperor's
court, about A. D. 1000. Theywere at firstvery great curiosities. Yet when they multiplied, theywere even then kept in the house, and tied
up at night. Some people thought cats were dangerous brutes.
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"Why, grandma,dear?" asked one of thekit- tens. "Didtheyeatupall thebirds?"
"No, I am inclined to think," said Grandma,
"that they were kept in at nights, for fear that they might be stolen, for they were still con- sideredvery valuable animals."
Here Grandma Guitar paused, that is, she stopped in her story, long enough to wipe her mouth andface, withwhatservespussies instead of a towel, napkin or handkerchief her two fore feet.
Then continuing, shecalled on Kichibei (kee- chee-bay),aTom,thatlivednextdoor. He was thelawyer amongthe cats ofPersimmon Street,
in which they lived. Sherequested him to read fromthe Government Bookon Cat Law (Neko
no Soshi). He made his bow, cocked his eye properly, and read the following regulation, of theyear 1602.
"First, the cords on the cats in Kyoto shall beuntied,andthecats shallbeletloose.
"Secondly, it is no longer allowed to buy or
sell cats. Whoever transgresses this ordinance, shallbepunishedwith aheavyfine."
The kittens were almost sorry, that their
grandma had called in this lawyer; for he in- stantlybegan a long dissertation on the cats of China, Korea and Japan, quoting from the his- toriansandlawbooks. He toldhow, gradually,
143 the cats, when they multiplied to millions, in the islands of Japan, got a bad reputation. In
fact, allsorts of evilstorieswere told,and prov- erbs coined, and uncomplimentary expressions used concerning them. To tell the full truth, however, out of somany, some cats were really bad. Ithadeven,oflate years,become common
to use cat skins to make banjos and guitars.
That isthe reasonwhy the singing and dancing
girls, or geishas (gay-shas in Tokyo, and gei-ko
in Kyoto) were usually called "cats" in fun.
Then he went on to explain why there was a
catoneveryJapanese boat,orship, asonecould usually see for in port,pusspokedherheadout
of thewindows tonote what was going on. Of
course,theseamenpreferred acatof threecolors.
For, although, as we say, a cat has nine lives, theJapanesesailorsthinkPusshasat least three.
He evenwent on to explainwhy ancient poetry referred so often to the flowers of the valerian plant, but so rarely mentioned them, in modern days. It was all because there were no cats in
Japan in those early times, though so numerous now.
Kichibei, the lawyer, was going to tell more, but Grandma said "ippai" (ip-pi) and "mo
yoroshi" (mo yo-ro-shee) intimating that he had said enough, and thanked him. For the longtalk of Kichibeihad got to be so tiresome,
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that severalof thekittenshadfallen asleep,before he was more than half through.
Finally,whenheendedand wentoff,Grandma thought it was time to go to bed. For these kitties were too young to go outdoors at night, likegrown-up cats.
"Oh, but you promised to tell us about our Aunt Geiko."
Nowthewayallthosekittenswoke upat once, to listen, showed that they wouldsoon makethe liveliest kindof roof scramblers, night prowlers, and street warblers; or be otherwise fitted for nocturnal accomplishments, justliketheir ances- tors; and, all this, without being taught.
Thelights having been putout, andallsitting in a ring, Grandma Guitar began. At once,
it seemed as if fourteen little round balls of fire
were glowing in the room; for each one of the cat'seyeshadwidened froma slit,or longcrack, to a circular window. In fact, they could all plainly see each other, even in the dark.
"Well,mygrandchildren,"beganthe oldlady cat, "you know that my daughter, your aunt Geiko, though borninthe Blossom Capital, was the pet of aBelgianlady; andthat both ofthem
lived in Kobe, when they were in our country.
They sailed away, a year ago, and, after a six weeks' voyage, arrived safely ather homeat the
little village of Gingelhom in Limburg."
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"But, alas,"and here Grandma Guitarpulled out aJapanese paper handkerchief, from under her collar, and wept real cat tears. On seeing
this, allthe kittens cried in sympathy, and some meouwed pitifully.
Grandma Guitarwas soovercomebyher feel-
ings, that she could proceed no further. So, fromthis point on, we shalltell, in our way, the story of what happened toMiss Puss Geiko, in Belgium, from what Grandma Guitar related to the kittens the next evening.
For,inordertomakeJapanesekittens under- standandenjoythewhole story,itwasnecessary
to go into so much detail, that it would be tire- some, especially to us human beings, who have traveled inBelgium.
For in old Japan, men with whiskers, or
women with bonnets; or leather shoes, or chairs, orcheese, wereunknown. Even cow's milk, ex- cept for calves,orvery old persons, was unheard
of, as an article of drink or food. Grown up humanbeingsthoughtitwaswickedtotakemilk from thecow! And no wonder! for two strong men, workingforanhour, could only get a quart or so, from the miserable little cows of the sort they then had.
So here is the story, as cut short, after being translated from Japanese cat talk.
WhenyourAuntGeikoarrivedatGingelhom,
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in Limburg, it took her some time to get accus- tomed to the strange human folks, and their ways; and, almost as much, to the cats of the neighborhood. Everythinglooked, smelled, and tasted so strangely.
The language bothered her a good deal, for she could not understand Flemish, even when dearlittlechildren,inwoodenshoes,putouttheir hands and tried with gentlevoices to coax Puss Geikotocometothem. Even whentheywanted
to smooth her back, or rub her head, she was frightenedat their talkandran away. Yetthey were only saying, "Come pussy, come here"!
Whentheybrought Geikoa saucerfullofsome- thing white, she would not go near it. It was cow's milk,butshe hadknown onlymothermilk, andhadnever seenwhat cowsgive usevery day.
If the Limburgers had onlyknown it, dried fish
wouldhave tempted Geiko any time.
One day the lady, her mistress, set a saucer of cow's milk before Geiko, and, when her own
mistress called to her, in Japanese, she ran up gladly and purred as if very happy. But she did not go near the lunch prepared for her.
Thenthe Belgian lady dipped her finger in the milk and rubbed it on pussy's lips, and at once out came a little red tongue to lick itoff. The
eyes ofyourAuntGeikosparkled. Thisshowed thatshehaddiscoveredsomethinggood andliked
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it. She lapped up the cow's milk, emptied the saucer, and always, after that, was glad to get more of what the lady said was "chichi" (chee- chee),whichisJapanese forwhat we call"milk"
and the Flemish "melk."
Butthestory-tellerissorryto say, that,onthe subject oftails,Pussy Geikodid notshoweither
good manners, or a sweet disposition. If cats have a commandment, "Thou shalt not covet,"
Pussy Geikowas an awful sinner.
Every time a cat of the country came near, Geiko would look enviously on its lovely, long
tail. Thenher eyes wouldturn green withjeal- ousy. She would leap forward at the Belgian
cat,andbiteat,clawwith bothpaws,treadupon, orscratch atitstail.
Geiko behavedjust like a covetous human be- ing,or aperson whois jealous of another'sgood
looks, or fine clothes,or general prosperity. So shewasnever popularwith thecats ofLimburg, and some always growled, whenthey sawher.
Now itwas notGeiko's fault, thatnaturehad not provided her with a handsome, long tail.
For, while a Japanese cat has all the bones in thatpart,which a well-bornkittenoughttopos- sess, yet, for some reason, that which we call its
"caudal extension" is not developed, and does notgrowout.
On the other hand, it is sad torelate, that the
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Belgian cats were not so polite, as they might have been. They looked with suspicion on any animal from a strange country. Theworstand most illmannered among them, every time they sawGeiko,calledout "Hello,Stumpy, wheredid you leave your tail?" This made the Japanese Puss, already in a state of nervous prostration, so lonely, that she nearly died; for she had no society. Sometimes, at night, she would go up onthe roof andlook up at the moon, and think of hermother andfeeltoo sad to live.
A short life had Geiko, in Belgic Land, and one morning she was found dead. It was rumored in Japan, that the poor creature had died of homesickness. Malignant cats, that en- vied Geiko her trip abroad, declared, in their gossip, that it was pride and conceit, that killed her; but, anybody who knew cats was sure that these chatterers were only jealous of Geiko.
The truth was, that Geiko went into a decline,
when she found how the other cats treated her.
Indeed, shewas somiserable, and becamefinally
soweak andfrail, that acat doctorwasheardto declare that theleastexcitementwouldkillher.
The real truth finally leaked out. Her kind mistress, the lady, hoping to cheer Geiko up, strengthen her nerves, and, possibly restore her to health, tried to tempt her appetite with the local delicacy. Sad to tell, it was all mistaken
149 kindness, for it went first to poor Pussy's nose, andthen toher brain. The lady had servedup
for the cat's lunch, some Limburger cheese!
But alas, the odor, before she tasted it, even
if she could have put it in her mouth, gave the
finalshock. Sooverpoweredwasthepoorhome-
sick puss, that she fellover and never recovered from the paralysis of her nostrils.
So,in thecorner of aBelgiangarden,one sees a little mound, and a memorial stone above it, with only thewords: