My wish was to meet my readers with a friendly rub; my desire was to part from them with a gentle warning. Above all, my wish was to have them think of me kindly; for, though a Cat, and no longer young,--though no more possessed of those graces which once distinguished me, when the eye, as I have been told, felt pleasure in gazing on my form,--my heart still beats warmly, tenderly, and without envy, and would feel no common joy if it thought it had not dwelt in this earthly abode in vain.
There is nothing like beginning at the very commencement of a story, if we wish it to be thoroughly understood; at least, _I_ think so; and, as I wish _my_ story to be clear and intelligible, in order that it may furnish a hint or a warning to others, I shall at least act up to my opinion, and begin at the beginning,--I may say, at the very tip of my tale.
Being now a Cat of some years' standing (I do not much like remembering how many), I was of course a Kitten on making my entry into life,--my first appearance being in company with a brother and three sisters.
We were all declared to be "the prettiest little darlings that ever were seen;" but as the old Puss who made the remark had said precisely the same thing at sight of every fresh Kitten she beheld, and she was accustomed to see ten or twelve new ones every week, the observation is no proof of our being very charming or very beautiful.
I cannot remember what passed during the first few days of my existence, for my eyes were close-shut till the ninth morning. I have an indistinct recollection however of overhearing a few words which passed between my mother and a friend of the family who had dropped in for a little chat, on the evening of the eighth day.
The latter had been remarking on my efforts to unclose my lids, to obtain a little peep at what was going on, when my good parent exclaimed,
"Ah! yes, she tries hard enough to stare at life now, because she knows nothing of it; but when she is as old as you or I, neighbour, she will wish more than once that she had always kept her eyes closed, or she is no true Cat."
I could not of course, at the time, have any notion what my mother meant, but I think, indeed I am _sure_, that I have discovered her meaning long ago; and all those who have lived to have sorrow,--and who has not?--will understand it too.