The Second Cat Megapack. George Zebrowski

give her milk to the Woman every day in exchange for the wonderful grass, the Cat went back through the Wet Wild Woods waving his wild tail and walking by his wild lone, just the same as before. But he never told anybody. And when the Man and the Horse and the Dog came home from hunting and asked the same questions same as before, the Woman said, “Her name is not Wild Cow any more, but the Giver of Good Food. She will give us the warm white milk for always and always and always, and I will take care of her while you and the First Friend and the First Servant go hunting.”

      Next day the Cat waited to see if any other Wild thing would go up to the Cave, but no one moved in the Wet Wild Woods, so the Cat walked there by himself; and he saw the Woman milking the Cow, and he saw the light of the fire in the Cave, and he smelt the smell of the warm white milk.

      Cat said, “O my Enemy and Wife of my Enemy, where did Wild Cow go?”

      The Woman laughed and said, “Wild Thing out of the Wild Woods, go back to the Woods again, for I have braided up my hair, and I have put away the magic blade-bone, and we have no more need of either friends or servants in our Cave.”

      Cat said, “I am not a friend, and I am not a servant. I am the Cat who walks by himself, and I wish to come into your cave.”

      Woman said, “Then why did you not come with First Friend on the first night?”

      Cat grew very angry and said, “Has Wild Dog told tales of me?”

      Then the Woman laughed and said, “You are the Cat who walks by himself, and all places are alike to you. You are neither a friend nor a servant. You have said it yourself. Go away and walk by yourself in all places alike.”

      Then Cat pretended to be sorry and said, “Must I never come into the Cave? Must I never sit by the warm fire? Must I never drink the warm white milk? You are very wise and very beautiful. You should not be cruel even to a Cat.”

      Woman said, “I knew I was wise, but I did not know I was beautiful. So I will make a bargain with you. If ever I say one word in your praise you may come into the Cave.”

      “And if you say two words in my praise?” said the Cat.

      “I never shall,” said the Woman, “but if I say two words in your praise, you may sit by the fire in the Cave.”

      “And if you say three words?” said the Cat.

      “I never shall,” said the Woman, “but if I say three words in your praise, you may drink the warm white milk three times a day for always and always and always.”

      Then the Cat arched his back and said, “Now let the Curtain at the mouth of the Cave, and the Fire at the back of the Cave, and the Milk-pots that stand beside the Fire, remember what my Enemy and the Wife of my Enemy has said.” And he went away through the Wet Wild Woods waving his wild tail and walking by his wild lone.

      That night when the Man and the Horse and the Dog came home from hunting, the Woman did not tell them of the bargain that she had made with the Cat, because she was afraid that they might not like it.

      Cat went far and far away and hid himself in the Wet Wild Woods by his wild lone for a long time till the Woman forgot all about him. Only the Bat—the little upside-down Bat—that hung inside the Cave, knew where Cat hid; and every evening Bat would fly to Cat with news of what was happening.

      One evening Bat said, “There is a Baby in the Cave. He is new and pink and fat and small, and the Woman is very fond of him.”

      “Ah,” said the Cat, listening, “but what is the Baby fond of?”

      “He is fond of things that are soft and tickle,” said the Bat. “He is fond of warm things to hold in his arms when he goes to sleep. He is fond of being played with. He is fond of all those things.”

      “Ah,” said the Cat, listening, “then my time has come.”

      Next night Cat walked through the Wet Wild Woods and hid very near the Cave till morning-time, and Man and Dog and Horse went hunting. The Woman was busy cooking that morning, and the Baby cried and interrupted. So she carried him outside the Cave and gave him a handful of pebbles to play with. But still the Baby cried.

      Then the Cat put out his paddy paw and patted the Baby on the cheek, and it cooed; and the Cat rubbed against its fat knees and tickled it under its fat chin with his tail. And the Baby laughed; and the Woman heard him and smiled.

      Then the Bat—the little upside-down bat—that hung in the mouth of the Cave said, “O my Hostess and Wife of my Host and Mother of my Host’s Son, a Wild Thing from the Wild Woods is most beautifully playing with your Baby.”

      “A blessing on that Wild Thing whoever he may be,” said the Woman, straightening her back, “for I was a busy woman this morning and he has done me a service.”

      That very minute and second, Best Beloved, the dried horse-skin Curtain that was stretched tail-down at the mouth of the Cave fell down—whoosh!—because it remembered the bargain she had made with the Cat, and when the Woman went to pick it up—lo and behold!—the Cat was sitting quite comfy inside the Cave.

      “O my Enemy and Wife of my Enemy and Mother of my Enemy,” said the Cat, “it is I: for you have spoken a word in my praise, and now I can sit within the Cave for always and always and always. But still I am the Cat who walks by himself, and all places are alike to me.”

      The Woman was very angry, and shut her lips tight and took up her spinning-wheel and began to spin. But the Baby cried because the Cat had gone away, and the Woman could not hush it, for it struggled and kicked and grew black in the face.

      “O my Enemy and Wife of my Enemy and Mother of my Enemy,” said the Cat, “take a strand of the wire that you are spinning and tie it to your spinning-whorl and drag it along the floor, and I will show you a magic that shall make your Baby laugh as loudly as he is now crying.”

      “I will do so,” said the Woman, “because I am at my wits’ end; but I will not thank you for it.”

      She tied the thread to the little clay spindle whorl and drew it across the floor, and the Cat ran after it and patted it with his paws and rolled head over heels, and tossed it backward over his shoulder and chased it between his hind-legs and pretended to lose it, and pounced down upon it again, till the Baby laughed as loudly as it had been crying, and scrambled after the Cat and frolicked all over the Cave till it grew tired and settled down to sleep with the Cat in its arms.

      “Now,” said the Cat, “I will sing the Baby a song that shall keep him asleep for an hour.” And he began to purr, loud and low, low and loud, till the Baby fell fast asleep. The Woman smiled as she looked down upon the two of them and said, “That was wonderfully done. No question but you are very clever, O Cat.”

      That very minute and second, Best Beloved, the smoke of the fire at the back of the Cave came down in clouds from the roof—puff!—because it remembered the bargain she had made with the Cat, and when it had cleared away—lo and behold!—the Cat was sitting quite comfy close to the fire.

      “O my Enemy and Wife of my Enemy and Mother of My Enemy,” said the Cat, “it is I, for you have spoken a second word in my praise, and now I can sit by the warm fire at the back of the Cave for always and always and always. But still I am the Cat who walks by himself, and all places are alike to me.”

      Then the Woman was very very angry, and let down her hair and put more wood on the fire and brought out the broad blade-bone of the shoulder of mutton and began to make a Magic that should prevent her from saying a third word in praise of the Cat. It was not a Singing Magic, Best Beloved, it was a Still Magic; and by and by the Cave grew so still that a little wee-wee mouse crept out of a corner and ran across the floor.

      “O my Enemy and Wife of my Enemy and Mother of my Enemy,” said the Cat, “is that little mouse part of your magic?”

      “Ouh! Chee! No indeed!” said the Woman, and she dropped the blade-bone and jumped upon the footstool in front of the fire and braided up her hair very quick for fear that the mouse should run up it.