A collection of light verse about cats - their daintiness, greediness, dreams, cleanliness, and conscience - with illustrations by Pat Sullivan. The poems offer gentle, humorous observations on feline habits and character, making them pleasant to hear.
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Cover of the original edition (Project Gutenberg, public domain).
Text source: gutenberg.org · The work is in the public domain.
Opening of the book
A CAT BOOK BY E. V. LUCAS ILLUSTRATED BY PAT SULLIVAN (Creator of Felix the Cat) A cat licking itself clean HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS NEW YORK AND LONDON 1927 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A cat holding butter and rejecting a slice of bread THE CAT’S DAINTINESS The cat desirous to be fed Has very little mind for bread. At thick or thin, at new or stale, She waves “No, thank you,” with her tail. But butter! she would eat a pat, Such is the nature of a cat. THE CAT’S GREEDINESS
To get at milk a cat will do A hundred things she oughtn’t to. But if it’s cream she wants, why then, She’ll multiply those sins by ten. A cat holding a small bottle of cream THE CAT’S DREAM The cat (like ourselves) has its favourite dream, And the dream it loves better than all, Is to take the large milk-pail and fill it with cream, Drawn fresh from the cow in the stall. A cat dreaming of drinking a bucket of cream THE CAT’S CLEANLINESS There’s nothing by a cat desired So little as a tubbing. Its tongue does every thing required In scrubbing and in rubbing. A cat licking itself clean THE CAT’S CONSCIENCE A dog will often steal a bone. But conscience lets him not alone, And by his tail his guilt is known.
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