[Photograph of a cat]
Photograph by Messrs. Kissack
“The Incredible Blue.”
THE SOUL OF A CAT
AND OTHER STORIES
BY
MARGARET BENSON
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY HENRIETTA
RONNER AND FROM PHOTOGRAPHS
LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN
1901
DEDICATION TO THOSEDESCRIBED IN THIS BOOK
Once on a time I used to dream
Strange spirits moved about my way,
And I might catch a vagrant gleam,
A glint of pixy or of fay;
Their lives were mingled with my own,
So far they roamed, so near they drew;
And when I from a child had grown,
I woke—and found my dream was true.
For one is clad in coat of fur,
And one is decked with feathers gay;
Another, wiser, will prefer
A sober suit of Quaker grey;
This one’s your servant from his birth,
And that a Princess you must please,
And this one loves to wake your mirth,
And that one likes to share your ease.
O gracious creatures, tiny souls!
You seem so near, so far away,
Yet while the cloudland round us rolls
We love you better every day.
οὐχὶ πάντες εἰσὶν λειτουργικὰ πνεύματα;[1]
[1] Greek—transliteration: ouchi pantes eisin leitourgika pneumata?
Translation: “Are they not all ministering spirits?” (Hebrews 1:14)—Transcriber.
[Pg vii]
PREFACE
Prejudice is at first a Guide to Knowledge,but afterwards a Gaoler ofThought.
The average Englishman prefers to havehis knowledge well formulated and wellclassified in what one may call a portableand handy form. To such an one itseems desirable to have certain general propositionsabout the animal creation which,regardless of small subtleties and differences,he may use as a guide for practical action.As, for instance, “that man is governed byreason but the brutes by instinct”; “that thecat, though eminently domestic, is selfish, egotistic,and luxurious; whereas the dog is generous,affectionate, and faithful”; that “catscare for places and not                         
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