Ring for Service

A cat belonging to a Carthusian monastery in Paris gets a free lunch, but who is exploiting whom?

Queen Victoria 1837-1901

Introduction

In his little book about cats, Victorian cartoonist Charles Ross describes the criminal career of a cat attached to a Carthusian monastery in Paris. His story confirms that cats are adept at all kind of thievery and opportunism, but also reminds us that they are not the only ones.

by Charles H. Ross 1835-1897

AN Angora Cat belonging to a Carthusian monastery at Paris discovered that, when a certain bell rang, the cook left the kitchen to answer it, leaving the monks’ dinners, portioned out in plates, unprotected.

The plan the Cat adopted was to ring the bell, the handle of which hung outside the kitchen by the side of a window, to leap through the window, and back again when she had secured one of the portions. This little manœuvre she carried on for some weeks before the perpetrator of the robbery was discovered; and there is no saying, during this lapse of time, how many innocent persons were unjustly suspected.

When, however, they found out that Pussy was the wrong-doer, they allowed her to pursue her nefarious career, and charged visitors a small fee to be allowed to see her do it.

by Charles H. Ross 1835-1897

From ‘The Book of Cats’ (1868) by cartoonist Charles H. Ross. Slightly emended.

Précis

A cat belonging to a Parisian monastery worked out that by tapping a little bell, she could get cook out of the kitchen long enough for a lightning raid the monks’ dinner-plates. When her ruse was uncovered at last, the monks did not exact retribution. They charged vistors admission to watch the little thief at work.

Questions for Critics

1. What is the author aiming to achieve in writing this?

2. Note any words, devices or turns of phrase that strike you. How do they help the author communicate his ideas more effectively?

3. What impression does this passage make on you? How might you put that impression into words?

Based on The English Critic (1939) by NL Clay, drawing on The New Criticism: A Lecture Delivered at Columbia University, March 9, 1910, by J. E. Spingarn, Professor of Comparative Literature in Columbia University, USA.

Sevens

Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.

How did the cat distract the cook?

Suggestion

She rang a bell by the window.

Jigsaws

Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.

Food kept disappearing. The monks investigated. They found the cat did it.