Just as the infamous Danish cartoonists spent too much time in Tivoli on the mosque ride, I spent too much time listening to my parents read _Millions of Cats_ to me. My parents, of course, refute the charge that they are culpable for my cat acquisition problem: they contend that "kitty" was one of my five first words, just after tree and fish; that I started campaigning for my first cat long before I was old enough to listen to that book; that I ought to point a little higher up in the family tree, to my grandmother, who often had seven stray animals in her house. I prefer to blame my parents, though. And the book. Books should be burned.
This is all to say that acquiring Kitten #2 was not my fault; I am a product of my environment. And also, we can blame the guards, who noted that another kitten seemed to be pattering around the outer wall of our compound. Incited by a confluence of extreme boredom and my enthusiasm for Kitten #1, they launched a 24-hour cathunt. Last night they appeared, faces exultant from the thrill of conquest, at our door with the spitting, snarling and scratching spoils of their venture.
Even I think we may need to put a moratorium on the kitten harvest, perhaps settling for feeding feral cats on the porch. I have a few relatives, I believe, who can give me tips on how to set up the outdoor cat buffet.
2 comments:
Consider yourself lucky, Emily. Cats are pretty wonderful. My parents often read to me this book called "Slugs" by David Greenberg. It gave me pretty ugly nightmares, though, instead of inspiring me to befriend them. Check out the illustrations - they still make me shudder.
http://www.amazon.com/Slugs-David-Greenberg/dp/0316326593/ref=pd_bbs_2/104-8390717-6532702?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1180534938&sr=1-2
I too had an obsession with cats as a kid. Also, like your parents, mine read this story to me. But, I don't think that you can blame the book for your problems. You might have a case if the moral of the story was, 'having millions of cats is great'. That isn't the case. Yes, the old man in the story has a problem. The Old Woman acts as the voice of reason saying that they can't possibly feed them all. "They will eat us out of house and home" she says. In the end the old man learns that it is more satisfying to have one cat that is happy and healthy then to have millions that aren't.
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