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THE CAT=<br />
plotting mischief. The <strong>cat</strong>'s eyes were all this<br />
time fixed upon <strong>the</strong> bird with terrible intensity, and<br />
<strong>the</strong>y said in a language which <strong>the</strong> poor parrot but<br />
too plainly understood : " Green though it be,<br />
this chicken is doubtless very good to eat."<br />
We watched <strong>the</strong> little drama with interest, ready<br />
to intervene at need. Madame Theophile crept<br />
slowly, almost imperceptibly, forward. Her pink<br />
nose quivered, her eyes were half closed, her claws<br />
moved in and out of <strong>the</strong>ir soft sheaths, little tre-<br />
mors of rapture ran along her spine. She was like<br />
an epicure sitting down to a chicken and truffles.<br />
Such novel and exotic fare tempted her gluttony.<br />
Suddenly her back bent like a bow, and with a<br />
vigorous spring she leaped upon <strong>the</strong> perch. The<br />
parrot, seeing <strong>the</strong> imminence of his peril, cried in<br />
a voice as deep and vibrating as M. Prudhomme's<br />
" Hast thou breakfasted, Jaequot ? "<br />
This utterance so terrified <strong>the</strong> <strong>cat</strong> that she fell<br />
backwards. The blare of a trumpet, <strong>the</strong> crash of<br />
crockery, <strong>the</strong> report of a pistol could not have<br />
made her more dizzy with fright. All her ornitho-<br />
logical <strong>the</strong>ories were overthrown.<br />
" And on what ? On <strong>the</strong> king's roast ? " con-<br />
tinued <strong>the</strong> parrot.<br />
Then we, <strong>the</strong> observers, read in <strong>the</strong> expressive<br />
countenance of Madame Theophile : " This is not<br />
a bird ; it speaks ; it is a gentleman."<br />
Menagerie Intime, Theophile Gautiee.<br />
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