SEPTEMBER 22, 1999

Tyger's Diary Sept. 22, 1999
Grrrreetings everyone! Since I have now run out of true stories to tell you about my cat family, today I'm going to tell you a fiction story. The story is taken from a book titled The Giant Golden Book of Cat Stories by Elizabeth Coatsworth published by Simon and Schuster copyrighted 1953 by Simon and Schuster and The Artists and Writers Guild Inc. (No infringement intended. No money is made on this website. This is reprinted here purely for and by cat lovers for entertainment and fun purposes only.) This is the story of Bold John, The Cat of The Night. There was once a time when all cats hunted and played by day and slept by night. Life was easy for cats and they learned to have luxurious habits because they were pampered and well-treated. But there came a time when one house had too many cats and one cat didn't have enough to eat. That cat was Bold John, and he deserved his name. He never drank cream or had soft cushions to lie on. He was chased out of the kitchen with a broom. So he decided to go to the Oldest Cat in the world for advice. He wanted to go to a place where there were no cats and he could be appreciated. The Oldest Cat had never heard of such a place. So he told Bold John to explore a new place: the night, a place where no cat had ever been before. That night, Bold John took his advice. He stayed awake and hunted in the dark. He heard a rustle and scurry in the darkness and a sound like a laugh up in the trees. Then 2 yellow eyes flew past him. But even though he was frightened, he didn't run away. He walked all night. The next day he did the same thing again. He went out and hunted in the night after everyone else was asleep. This time when the eyes flew past him, he wasn't as afraid. The moon came up and he could see. He stayed out until a wolf howled. Then he knew there were other hunters about. Every night he stayed out longer and longer. He learned all the secrets of the night. He learned that the scurry and rustle was made by rabbits and that the thing that laughed and flew by with burning eyes was an owl and that he could climb a tree if a fox or a wolf came too near. He found the hunting good and grew fat upon it. Soon other cats noticed his fine appearance. He was fat and sleek. His coat had grown black as the night and his chin and paws were as white as the moon. His eyes were like the moon, too, with the pupils growing large and small like the moon. They commented about this to him. He replied: "I belong to the night, so I dress like her. I have explored the darkness and found there is nothing to fear. I can see even when there's no moon. The night is my friend." The other cats begged Bold John to teach them to live in the night, too. So he taught them. The teachings spread all over the world. But only Bold John's kittens wear the black coat of the night. So that today, if you see a black cat, you may be sure that he is descended from Bold John himself, the first cat in the world to become night's friend.
Hope you liked it! See you next time! TygerStar
Best Wishes from TygerStar!