amongst us, though frequent among the legends of our
Irish neighbours; in which the brutes are the only characters
drawn,--drawn too with shades of distinction as nice and subtle
as if they were the creatures of the civilized world.

You are aware, my dear Nymphalin, that in the time of which I am about
to speak there was no particular enmity between the various species of
brutes; the dog and the hare chatted very agreeably together, and
all the world knows that the wolf, unacquainted with mutton, had
a particular affection for the lamb. In these happy days, two most
respectable cats, of very old family, had an only daughter. Never was
kitten more amiable or more seducing; as she grew up she manifested so
many charms, that in a little while she became noted as the greatest
beauty in the neighbourhood. Need I to you, dearest Nymphalin, describe
her perfection? Suffice it to say that her skin was of the most delicate
tortoiseshell, that her paws were smoother than velvet, that her
whiskers were twelve inches long at the least, and that her eyes had a
gentleness altogether astonishing in a cat. But if the young beauty
had suitors in plenty during the lives of monsieur and madame, you may
suppose the number was not diminished when, at the age of two years and
a half, she was left an orphan, and sole heiress to all the hereditary
property. In fine, she was the richest marriage in the whole country.
Without troubling you, dearest queen, with the adventures of the rest of
her lovers, with their suit and their rejection, I come at once to the
two rivals most sanguine of success,--the dog and the fox.

Now the dog was a handsome, honest, straightforward, affectionate
fellow. "For my part," said he, "I don't wonder at my cousin's refusing
Bruin the bear, and Gauntgrim the wolf: to be sure they give themselves
great airs, and call themselves '_noble_,' but what then? Bruin is
always in the sulks, and Gauntgrim always in a passion; a cat of any
sensibility would lead a miserable life with them. As for me, I am very
good-tempered when I'm not put out, and I have no fault except that of
being angry if disturbed at my meals. I am young and good-looking, fond
of play and amusement, and altogether as agreeable a husband as a cat
could find in a summer's day. If she marries me, well and good; she
may have her property settled on herself: if not, I shall bear her no
malice; and I hope I sha'n't be too much in love to forget th