"If man could be crossed with a cat,
It would improve man but deteriorate the cat." Mark Twain
Among other
things, I am in the process of writing the "Memories of a Cat." They are inner
thoughts and confidences shared with me by my many loving cats in the course of my life.
Below and from top to bottom are my dearest Porky-chop, Fifi and Lady. Seen at her
favorite spot by the window is Lady, daughter of Fifi who presently lives in the South of
France with Fanny. She has crossed the Atlantic several times to see her mother and us.
Porky we believe, was eaten by a nasty Coyote a few months after
his arrival in Arizona. We had him for fifteen years and he loved fresh shrimps. Most of
the time he used to relax on my shoulders while I worked at the computer. He was my
editor-in-chief and I miss him dearly. Fifi a real "Shazdeh," (princesse) had
beautiful kittens, one of them, Wazoo is still with us but hates to be photographed.
Cats
read the mood and feelings of their owner. All my cats possessed mysterious abilities and
performed absolutely astonishing mental, physical and extrasensory feats. In Iran, one of
our cats who got lost while we were on the Caspian sea, journeyed hundreds of miles to
track us down and return to our home in Tehran. An amazing feat and needless to say, we
were overjoyed to have him back. At left is Porkychop who disappeared one dark night. I
wish he could return in the same mysterious way.
The Qajar Kings of
Persia loved cats, you can see them resting by their master in many old Persian paintings.
The secrecy, dignity and mystery of the cats fascinated them. Modernizing King Reza Shah
Pahlavi of Iran loved cats too. Henry VII's Chancellor, Cardinal Wolsey, took his cats to
religious services and meetings of the Crown. Winston Churchill loved cats and his ginger
tom "Jock" slept on his bed and attended war-time cabinet meetings. Today, there
is a cat in the White House named "Socks." During the Civil War, when Abraham
Lincoln was visiting the camp of general Grant he found three half-frozen cats and
promptly adopted them.
When the Prophet Mohammad's cat fell asleep on the sleeve of his robe, Mohammad,
called to prayer, cut his sleeve off rather than wake the cat. Something to remember and
to remind sinister "Hanging Judge Khalkhali" of present-day Iran, whose passion
for killing men and strangling cats is well-known to Iranians.
At left is Lady in the South of France
Last but not Least is our faithful Boxer "Bully."
He was a cat admirer!
Drawing top copyright © - Haydée Ardalan, Switzerland. Bottom, A
recent © CAT Collage by Fereydoun Hoveyda, Virginia. BACKTO FRONTPAGE
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