Pippin is the cat that lives next door. He moved in more than 12 years ago…. I don’t know how old he was when he moved here. Pippin is an “outdoor cat” and a lot of people think he belongs to us because he spends a lot of time on the wall in front of our house and sits on our porch regularly. To say that Pippin is a cat with an attitude would be a gigantic understatement.
We’ve all heard that “cats have nine lives” — I’m pretty sure Pippin went through more than that the first couple of years he lived here. He has taken on just about every “wild” creature that lives in these parts and has beat-up on a few dogs that live in the neighborhood. Sometimes you see him with big clumps of hair missing and he lost part of one ear during one of his (seemingly) nightly encounters.
So I wonder about that “cats have nine lives” saying…. I always though they really just had one, bur after seeing Pippin in action I’m beginning to think nine is a low number.
But I was curious about the nine lives myth — so — I activated my extensive research mode. Apparently the popular belief — it’s just a myth — has been around for hundreds of years. Most sources I found during my extensive research simply said something like an “old English proverb.” Digging a little deeper, one of the more popular ideas is that the saying came to be because cats are particularly agile and possess great dexterity. Cats are able to twist around very quickly in the air if dropped from high places and land on their feet. This is because they have what is called a “righting reflex.” Cats also have more vertebrae than humans and are extremely flexible, giving them great poise, balance and reflexes.
A couple of sources I found point to Shakespeare as the one planting the notion in people’s minds. In his play Romeo and Juliet (Act 3, Scene 1) Tybait asks, “What wouldst thous have with me?” And Mercurio replies, “Good king of cats, nothing but one of your nine lives.”
There is an ancient old English proverb that says, “A cat has nine lives for three he plays, for three he strays, and for the last three he stays.” The proverb does not literally mean that a cat really has nine lives but is a statement about the longevity of cats and that they give the most affection when they reach an older age and are too old to chase mice and run away.
One interesting theory behind why cats have ‘nine lives’ comes from the ancient Egyptian reverence of cats…. the God Atum-Ra took the form of a cat when visiting the underworld and give birth to eight other gods. Therefore, Atum unified nine lives in one.
I found one paper that indicated that the nine lives theory could have originated in China. The number nine is considered lucky in China (though not as lucky and six or eight) and is featured heavily in the mythology of Chinese dragons.
Actually, the myth that cats have multiple lives exists in many countries around the world. However, it isn’t always nine lives and the number varies in different cultures. Some Spanish-speaking regions believe cats have seven lives, and Turkish and Arabic legends claim cats have six lives.
So once again extensive research didn’t come up with a definitive answer… I suppose I should talk to the neighborhood expert, Pippin, to get the real story.
A friend of mine, that’s not much of a “cat person,” says that if cats really do have nine lives, that makes them ideal for experimentation…..
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