第23章 ON CATS AND DOGS.(2)

Jones (who has just married Miss Robinson).They never mistake your wife's cousin for her husband and fancy that you are the father-in-law.And they never ask a young author with fourteen tragedies,sixteen comedies,seven farces,and a couple of burlesques in his desk why he doesn't write a play.

They never say unkind things.They never tell us of our faults,"merely for our own good."They do not at inconvenient moments mildly remind us of our past follies and mistakes.They do not say,"Oh,yes,a lot of use you are if you are ever really wanted"--sarcastic like.They never inform us,like our inamoratassometimes do,that we are not nearly so nice as we used to be.We are always the same to them.

They are always glad to see us.They are with us in all our humors.

They are merry when we are glad,sober when we feel solemn,and sad when we are sorrowful.

"Halloo!happy and want a lark?Right you are;I'm your man.Here Iam,frisking round you,leaping,barking,pirouetting,ready for any amount of fun and mischief.Look at my eyes if you doubt me.What shall it be?A romp in the drawing-room and never mind the furniture,or a scamper in the fresh,cool air,a scud across the fields and down the hill,and won't we let old Gaffer Goggles'geese know what time o'

day it is,neither!Whoop!come along."

Or you'd like to be quiet and think.Very well.Pussy can sit on the arm of the chair and purr,and Montmorency will curl himself up on the rug and blink at the fire,yet keeping one eye on you the while,in case you are seized with any sudden desire in the direction of rats.

And when we bury our face in our hands and wish we had never been born,they don't sit up very straight and observe that we have brought it all upon ourselves.They don't even hope it will be a warning to us.But they come up softly and shove their heads against us.If it is a cat she stands on your shoulder,rumples your hair,and says,"Lor,'I am sorry for you,old man,"as plain as words can speak;and if it is a dog he looks up at you with his big,true eyes and says with them,"Well you've always got me,you know.We'll go through the world together and always stand by each other,won't we?"He is very imprudent,a dog is.He never makes it his business to inquire whether you are in the right or in the wrong,never bothers as to whether you are going up or down upon life's ladder,never asks whether you are rich or poor,silly or wise,sinner or saint.You are his pal.That is enough for him,and come luck or misfortune,good repute or bad,honor or shame,he is going to stick to you,to comfort you,guard you,and give his life for you if need be--foolish,brainless,soulless dog!

Ah!old stanch friend,with your deep,clear eyes and bright,quick glances,that take in all one has to say before one has time to speak it,do you know you are only an animal and have no mind?Do you know that that dull-eyed,gin-sodden lout leaning against the post out there is immeasurably your intellectual superior?Do you know that every little-minded,selfish scoundrel who lives by cheating and tricking,who never did a gentle deed or said a kind word,who never had a thought that was not mean and low or a desire that was not base,whose every action is a fraud,whose every utterance is a lie--do you know that these crawling skulks (and there are millions of them in the world),do you know they are all as much superior to you as the sun is superior to rushlight you honorable,brave-hearted,unselfish brute?

They are MEN,you know,and MEN are the greatest,and noblest,and wisest,and best beings in the whole vast eternal universe.Any man will tell you that.

Yes,poor doggie,you are very stupid,very stupid indeed,compared with us clever men,who understand all about politics and philosophy,and who know everything,in short,except what we are and where we came from and whither we are going,and what everything outside this tiny world and most things in it are.

Never mind,though,pussy and doggie,we like you both all the better for your being stupid.We all like stupid things.Men can't bear clever women,and a woman's ideal man is some one she can call a "dear old stupid."It is so pleasant to come across people more stupid than ourselves.We love them at once for being so.The world must be rather a rough place for clever people.Ordinary folk dislike them,and as for themselves,they hate each other most cordially.

But there,the clever people are such a very insignificant minority that it really doesn't much matter if they are unhappy.So long as the foolish people can be made comfortable the world,as a whole,will get on tolerably well.

Cats have the credit of being more worldly wise than dogs--of looking more after their own interests and being less blindly devoted to those of their friends.And we men and women are naturally shocked at such selfishness.Cats certainly do love a family that has a carpet in the kitchen more than a family that has not;and if there are many children about,they prefer to spend their leisure time next door.

But,taken altogether,cats are libeled.Make a friend of one,and she will stick to you through thick and thin.All the cats that Ihave had have been most firm comrades.I had a cat once that used to follow me about everywhere,until it even got quite embarrassing,and I had to beg her,as a personal favor,not to accompany me any further down the High Street.She used to sit up for me when I was late home and meet me in the passage.It made me feel quite like a married man,except that she never asked where I had been and then didn't believe me when I told her.