Cats have no amends to make

May 10, 2016 5:30 AM

Pard, a cat who lives with Ursula K. Le Guin, tells the story of "My Life so Far" (Part I, Part II).

Life was often quite exciting in the first place, and we were happy together. I am hardly ever sad, but sometimes when I am going to sleep I hear purring around me that is not mine, and it seems that Mother and Sister and I are all curled up like one warm cat. And then I am happier than usual....

In the strange place, all the humans were toms and queens and strangers, and there were far too many cats, all strangers. Sometimes I cried and sometimes I got my tail up for a while....There was so much strangeness in the strange place that when I met the old queen and the younger aunty humans they were just parts of it. But they distinctly had good intentions, and good manners, too, admiring me, holding out their knuckles to me like noses, and making no effort to hug. So I purred loudly and kept my tail so straight up that the end of it fell over onto my back, which pleased them, and there was mutual pleasantness.

Here is Le Guin's side of the story; "Choosing a Cat", "Chosen by a Cat".

Other posts about (but not by) Pard.

posted by oakroom (12 comments total)

❤️🐱
posted by ardgedee at 6:02 AM on May 10, 2016

I've always liked Le Guin's writing, but this idea that a cat is some austere and noble creature that doesn't need to justify its existence is definitely a sign that you got some of the classier brain parasites.
posted by mhoye at 6:12 AM on May 10, 2016 [9 favorites]

Usually stuff like this is too twee to bear, but LeGuin is a skilled writer and turns it into a more charming story than it ought to be. Her POV pieces were worthwhile, too.
posted by briank at 6:19 AM on May 10, 2016 [2 favorites]

LeGuin wrote a children's picture book about cats and sadly, my memory of it is me weeping in the Strand bookstore in NYC as I read it, because I lost my cat a few days before I had to travel there. I just lost another cat last week so I don't know if I'm up to reading about her cats right now!
posted by Kitteh at 6:29 AM on May 10, 2016 [5 favorites]

I'm pretty sure a cat would deliberately misspell annals as anals and then look at you all innocent like "What?"
posted by srboisvert at 6:32 AM on May 10, 2016

Besides, the humans don’t eat our kibbles, so we don’t eat theirs. Fair is fair. Except for exceptions.

This was pretty much my arrangement with my poor little boy, except he like to put his nose up to my bowl when I was eating soup, just in the nature of curiosity.

On reflection, like Kitteh, maybe I should have given this a pass, but it's good.
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:32 AM on May 10, 2016 [1 favorite]

Bearded like the pard!

I know this is a Shakespeare reference but only because I read it in "The Code of the Woosters".
posted by orrnyereg at 7:30 AM on May 10, 2016 [1 favorite]

The aunty human went away and left me with the old queen and an old tom. I was distrustful of him at first, but my fears were groundless. When he sits down he has an excellent thing, a lap. Other humans have them, but his is mine. It is full of quietness and fondness.

Tears.
posted by Celsius1414 at 8:11 AM on May 10, 2016 [6 favorites]

Yay! I was thinking of making a post of this but I kept failing, so I am glad oakroom is more focused than I. And one of the things I like about LeGuin is that she's not actually very sentimental -- read the post about mouse-hunting.
posted by tavella at 9:29 AM on May 10, 2016 [2 favorites]

LeGuin is also the author of Catwings, the story of four kittens who are born with wings, and how they eventually find a home. There are also three more Catwings books, for all your flying cat needs.
posted by mogget at 10:27 AM on May 10, 2016 [8 favorites]

I've always liked Le Guin's writing, but this idea that a cat is some austere and noble creature that doesn't need to justify its existence is definitely a sign that you got some of the classier brain parasites.

You know, lately it occurs to me that I probably am totally toxoplasmosized, because I am way fonder of my current cat than I have been of any cat previously and because I find her really fascinating in that "I am so high that this tiny thing seems really interesting" way, except I am completely sober. I am not good at fine detail, but I notice fine detail about my current cat.

But I figure that's fine with me. Life is pretty miserable in a lot of respects, and if a brain parasite is making me happier by making me happier with my cat, then parasite on is what I say.
posted by Frowner at 1:03 PM on May 10, 2016 [16 favorites]

We are resigned to the brain parasites at Chez Nosy Parker. As we like to say, it's not like it itches.
posted by Space Kitty at 2:29 PM on May 10, 2016 [2 favorites]