Nine lives?

The notion that cats have nine lives has been around for centuries, and it is obviously based on the fact that cats are rather tough creatures, true survivors in a threatening world. They seem to escape inevitable death at times, so clearly they are blessed with more than one life. But why nine? No one is quite sure, except that humans have always considered three to be a “good” number, and thus a lucky one, and nine (three times three) is even better. “Cats have nine lives” is just another way of saying “Cats are very lucky creatures.”

“Contemptible sneaks”

Sneaky is a word associated with cats, and a cat hater often puts it at the top of his List of Reasons to Detest Cats. Cat lovers scratch their heads over this. Yes, cats are sneaky—and why not, since stealth is a necessary element in hunting (as every human hunter knows). They walk silently, stalk patiently, then make a quick and lethal pounce. Perhaps their fabled sneakiness disturbs some people, the type of people who don’t want an animal entering (or leaving) a room with no sound at all. For us cat lovers, sneakiness is part of the total appeal of the cat.

Lucky Dick Whittington

There really was a Richard Whittington, who served as the lord mayor of London in the early 1400s. He was real, but the cat legends connected with him probably aren’t. According to the stories, Dick was a poor country boy hoping to make a fortune in London. He worked for a merchant who was sending a ship to Morocco, and Dick offered his cat to the ship. Morocco was besieged by mice, and since Dick’s cat became the country’s savior, the king of Morocco paid Dick an exorbitant price for the mouser. Dick built his fortune on this and became a man of substance. Naturally he came, in time, to get his cat back.

Plutarch’s crackpot theory

The Greek author Plutarch wrote one of the great classics of ancient literature, Parallel Lives, brief biographies of notable Greeks and Romans. Plutarch was a brilliant man but, like most intellectuals, had a few crackpot ideas floating around in his mind.

Take this one, for example: he thought a female cat produced one cat in her first litter, two in her second, and so on until she reached the magic number of twenty-eight, at which time she ceased bearing kittens. Well, no female cat ever bore twenty-eight in one litter, of course. Plutarch based that number on the old connection of cats with the moon: there are twenty-eight days in a lunar month, so Plutarch figured a female should bear twenty-eight kittens. As I said, a crackpot idea, but an amusing one.

The hellhound (and hellcat) goddess

In Greek mythology, Hecate was a sinister goddess associated with the underworld and magic, usually of the evil sort. Sorceresses like Medea were in league with Hecate, and there were all sorts of spells and incantations directed to her in the practice of magic.

It was believed that Hecate was active at night (naturally), and that she often appeared at crossroads, sometimes accompanied by hellhounds (whatever they were), and perhaps even had a hellhound head herself. But, alternatively, Hecate was often said to take the form of a cat—black, of course. Considering what a sinister goddess she was, it isn’t hard to see why the Christian Church might form a low opinion of black cats, given their connection with this goddess of night and sorcery.

Buddha versus the cat

In a story from Sri Lanka (formerly called Ceylon), a young follower of the Buddha had fallen in love and wanted to give up the monastic life and find happiness with the woman who had captured his heart. The Buddha spun a fable for the man: a female cat saw a rooster in a tree and promised to marry him if he would come down. The rooster refused and continued to live. The Buddha’s point: the woman was a devouring temptress as fatal to the man as the cat would be to the rooster. A curious story and not very flattering to either cats or women.

Cat as arbitrator

An old cat fable told by the French author La Fontaine (1621–1695) goes this way: a rabbit and weasel go to an old cat to ask him to settle a dispute between them. The cat tells them to sit on a scale so he can “weigh the case.” They do so—and while they are near him, he kills them. Well, it does settle their dispute, but not in the way they had hoped.

Wake me for the funeral

Cats are generally well thought of in eastern Asia, yet there is an old story that casts the cat in a badlight. According to the story, when the funeral procession of the Buddha passed by, all the animals turned out for mourning—all except the cat, who slept placidly through the whole thing. For this reason the cat was not numbered among the creatures under the Buddha’s protection. In another version of the story, all the animals were called to the bedside of the dying Buddha, but the cat (naturally) was asleep. Still one more version: the dying Buddha stated that the first twelve animals to reach his bedside would be given immortality, but the snoozing cat was not among them.

Fairy godcat?

Think of Cinderella and you can’t help but think of her kindly fairy godmother, the magic-working lady usually depicted as grayhaired and matronly. But the Cinderella story in some of its older forms had no kindly lady: the magical being who aided poor Cinderella was a cat—not at all surprising when you consider that cats were associated with the occult and magic. (An obvious question, though: did the cat turn Cinderella’s mice into horses so he wouldn’t be tempted to eat them?)

Vampire cats

Asians have generally thought highly of cats but not always. In one old folk tale of Japan, a demonic cat is a sort of vampire. He attacks a young woman, sucks out her blood and then takes over her identity. In his new guise he proceeds to gradually suck the lifeblood from the girl’s fiancé, until a servant exposes the cat-woman as an impostor. Incidentally, in Japanese artwork it is very easy to tell real cats from demon cats: the demon cats have two tails.

Lilith, the first Mrs. Adam

In old Jewish legends, Adam’s had a wife before Eve—Lilith, who was a real demon. Lilith constantly worked mischief upon Adam’s human descendants, turning into a vampire cat by night and sucking the blood of the living, especially infants. In most versions of the story the vampire cat is (naturally) black.

Russian wisdom

Consider this old Russian proverb: “A man and a dog for the yard, a cat and a woman for the house.” Call it sexist if you like, but there’s a measure of truth in it, since no one (male or female) can walk a cat the way one walks a dog. Historically cats have been associated with the house (after all, they’re supposed to catch mice there) while dogs were xpected to accompany the family hunter (the man, naturally) and aid him in bringing home game. Even today there is still some of the old prejudice lingering in the idea that “real men” prefer dogs to cats.

Woman as shelter

Who wears the pants in the family? You would expect that the answer would be, “The man, of course.” Not necessarily. In one old story, probably from Africa, the cat seeks a bigger creature to protect him. Each time he finds a protector, a larger predator kills off the protector. So he finally puts himself under the protection of a man. But when the man enters home, he is chased from the house by his angry wife. The cat concludes that the woman is the strongest protector.

Madonna kittens

Here’s a pleasant legend: long ago Italians told a story that at the time that Mary gave birth to Jesus in the stable in Bethlehem, a cat produced a litter of kittens in the same stable. Because of their birth near the Christian Savior, all those kittens—and all their descendants as well—have crosses marked on their backs.

The Nativity cat

So why does the tabby cat have the familiar Mmark on his forehead? Here is as pretty an explanation as you could find: in the stable at Bethlehem, Mary had trouble getting the infant Jesus to fall asleep. None of the beasts in the stable was able to help, but in came a tabby cat, who lay next to baby Jesus. The cat purred contentedly, and the baby fell asleep. Mary was so grateful that she blessed the cat, who ever since has had the M—for Mary, or Madonna — on the forehead.

Judas and the cat

In the New Testament Gospels, Jesus is betrayed by Judas Iscariot, one of his twelve disciples. In artwork this traitor was often shown as a redhead (mostly to distinguish him from the other eleven disciples) and, oddly, was sometimes shown with a cat at his feet. There is no mention of cats in the New Testament, so what is the connection with Judas? Probably the painters were providing a visual illustration of the phrase “turn the cat in the pan” — meaning, to change sides or to be a traitor.

The doubtful cat man

In the Bible, Thomas was one of Jesus’ twelve apostles, the one who did not believe Jesus had risen from the grave until he had actually touched him. (Hence the phrase “doubting Thomas.”) According to old legends, Thomas later preached the gospel in faraway India and was eventually martyred there. In one story, Thomas was en route to India as part of a caravan that included an Egyptian merchant.

The merchant’s beloved cat was asleep in his lap, and Thomas commented on the cat’s peacefulness. The merchant commented that his business kept him constantly worried, and that he wished he could find the peace his cat possessed. Thomas told him that he must first find peace with God, and the merchant became one of Thomas’s first converts. He gave Thomas the cat as a gift, and Thomas gave him the Greek name Irene, meaning “peace.”

Hissing Agatha

Saint Agatha was, so the story goes, a Christian virgin who was martyred during one of the Roman persecutions of the faithful. She became a popular saint afterward, and her feast was celebrated on February 5. In many areas of Europe women observed the day by refraining from work. Legend had it that a woman caught working on Saint Agatha’s Day would be confronted by the saint herself—in the form of a hissing cat.

Jerome’s lion—or cat?

Saint Jerome (circa 342–420) was famous for producing the Vulgate, a Latin translation of the Bible. The studious man never married, and he became the patron saint of scholars. In the many paintings and sculptures of Jerome, he is shown writing at his desk, with his favorite pet nearby. Sometimes the pet is a cat, sometimes a lion—based on the legend that he pulled a thorn from a lion’s paw and that the lion became devoted to him afterward. We can probably assume that his real pet was a cat, not a lion. Considering how many writers are fond of cats, it is appropriate that Jerome, the patron of bookish types, would have owned one.

Francis the animal lover (usually)

Heaven knows how many lawns and gardens are adorned with statues of Saint Francis of Assisi, the rich Italian boy who gave up his wealth, lived as a pauper and was continually in touch with both God and nature. Francis is almost a patron saint for animal lovers, but according to one legend, he almost learned to hate mice. Satan decided that Francis was simply too Christlike, and to test the saint’s holiness, he sent a horde of mice to vex him. The mice made his life a living hell, but God and the angels saw the saint’s plight and sent him a spunky tomcat named Felix (yes, really), who made short work of the troublesome rodents.