“It is in their eyes that their magic resides.” —Arthur Symons
Cats can be magical. Cats can play with fairies we may not see. Cats know what magic is. That’s why in the Sims, cats always know which sims are witches and which ones are not.
“A cat is a puzzle for which there is no solution.” —Hazel Nicholson
Cats do puzzle many people. I personally don’t care if cats are a puzzle. They make my life much better just by being around. Perhaps the more puzzling thing is why so many of us like to live with cats.
Who can believe that there is no soul behind those luminous eyes! —Theophile Gautier
Of course cats have souls. I know after living with cats for decades. I’ve looked and cats do stare without blinking. I know they look deep into others’ souls and the souls of humans. How else could they decide who will be their servants?
If you are worthy of its affection, a cat will be your friend, but never your slave. —Theophile Gautier
Cats aren’t slaves or property in any way. They know this. They do become fond of certain humans and befriend those they like. But cats never submit to humans as slaves or property. Cats still retain a simple dignity while bestowing their affection on those worthy of it.
Sometimes humans think our eyes are glowing. Some humans find us frightening for that reason when they come across us in the dark. Our eyes don’t glow, they just reflect the light. It doesn’t take much. Sometimes the reflection happens when someone takes a picture of us and the flash goes off. It’s very obvious in the dark when a little light is caught by our eyes.
I don’t understand why any human finds it so frightening. It’s a normal phenomena. It’s the way our eyes are made. There are human scientists who understand this after studying us for years. You can ask them if you don’t believe me, a cat. My girl doesn’t find it frightening when she sees our eyes in the dark. She knows it’s one of us and never gets scared.
Our eyes have been known to creep out quite a few people. You can’t see us very well in the dark, but you might see our reflected eyes staring right at you. Sounds scary?
I never thought I was scary unless I was hunting. Otherwise, I was just a cat who was lying in the sun or meditating or complaining to someone who cared to listen to me.
My girl admitted to me that she couldn’t see as well as I could in the dark. She said when she turned out the lights, she couldn’t see me anymore. She used to walk into me. She apologized every time, thank goodness. I’d really be mad if she had done it on purpose and didn’t care to apologize for her behavior.
So, I did what any reasonable cat would do. Whenever she turned out the lights and she walked too close to me, I’d let her know where I was. It worked. Her hearing is better than her eyesight. Yes, she wears glasses. She wears lined bifocals now. She didn’t then. But that’s another story.
I’m glad she listened to me. She was able to walk around in the dark without stepping on me. That just proves it is possible to train your human to take excellent care of you. Just find one who will listen to your every complaint and does something to make things better. Those are the kinds of humans who are worth waiting for.
Sir Socks Le Chat 