THE LANGUAGE OF CATS.
Reading edition
[Dialogue for four small girls. Each may have a cat, excepting the last. All stand on line, facing audience.]
JEANNE. My cat speaks French, dear little friends, As plainly as can be; Says “s’il vous plait” (that’s if you please), And thanks me with “merci!” I know because I understand Each word she says to me. Lisa. And mine speaks German, dearest friends, And we live on the Rhine; Says “bitte” when she wants a drink, And “ja,” of course, and “nein”; I wouldn’t have a cat that spoke A different tongue from mine. Norah. That’s foine fer yees, you French and Dutch, With faces so demure; Me cat sphakes Oirish; whin I set A saucer on the flure, An’ ax her would she have some milk, Me darlint tells me shure. Lily. You may talk about your kittens, May think they talk like you, I’ve listened well to all they said— And know that this is true; Cats speak in English, every time, And all they say is “Miaow.”