The Nine Lives of A Cat

A free download from www.dertz.in

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Nine Lives of A Cat, by Charles
Bennett
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: The Nine Lives of A Cat
A Tale of Wonder
Author: Charles Bennett
Release Date: November 4, 2007 [EBook #23318]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
0. START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NINE
LIVES OF A CAT ***
Produced by Louise Hope and The Online Distributed
Proofreading
Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
produced from images
generously made available by The
Internet Archive/American
Libraries.)
[Transcriber's Note:
The html version of this text includes the
illustrations. Since all pages are illustrated, they are not separately

marked here.]
NINE LIVES OF A CAT
by

CHARLES BENNETT
[Illustration: FRONTISPIECE]
THE NINE LIVES
of
A CAT
A TALE OF WONDER
by
CHARLES BENNETT.
Author of
"Shadows"
London
Griffith and Farran.
Corner of St Pauls' Churchyard. 1860.
PREFACE
This tale of wonder is told for
children; with which view, it has been

carefully designed and very nicely
printed.
For some time past, it has arrived at
the dignity of a popular Nursery
Tale in
the Author's family; and it is hoped it
will merit the same
good fortune
elsewhere.
It will be worth while explaining, that
the circle in each page is made
to
represent some object in connection with
the story; and, that as
some of them
have proved rather puzzling, to Juvenile
admirers has
been left the task of
"finding them out."
_London_, 1859.
1
How many Lives has the Cat got?
NINE!
But when she was young,
Poor Kitty was hung;
So how
many Lives has the Cat got?
2
Yes, Kitty was hung
When she was so young;
But, as you would

hope,
She pulled a knife out of her sidepocket,
and before you
could
count ONE, TWO, THREE,
cut right through the rope.
3
How many Lives has the Cat got?
EIGHT!
But, when she was rounder,
A boy tried to drown her;

So how many Lives has the Cat got?
4
Yes, a boy tried to drown her
When fatter and rounder,
But, as you
would wish,
She slipped the stone off her neck,
and before you
could count,
ONE, TWO, THREE, swam
like a fish.
5
How many Lives has the Cat got?
SEVEN!
But, as I have learnt,
Poor Pussy was burnt.
So how
many Lives has the Cat got?
6
Yes, Pussy was burnt,
As I too have learnt;
But, as you will read,

She jumped into the water-butt before
you could count, ONE, TWO,

THREE; she did, indeed!
7
How many Lives has the Cat got?
SIX!
But she fell off the house,
Running after a mouse;
So how
many Lives has the Cat got?
8

Yes, she fell off the house
Running after a mouse;
But, as life is
sweet,
Before you could count ONE, TWO,
THREE, she came on
her feet.
9
How many Lives has the Cat got?
FIVE!
But I hear she has not;
For they say she was shot.
So how
many Lives has the Cat got?
10
Yes, with a gun she was shot,
And a trigger it had got,
I saw the
man pull it;
But Pussy held up her paws like the
Wizard of the
North, and
before you could count, ONE,
TWO, THREE, caught
the Bullet.
11
How many Lives has the Cat got?
FOUR!
But people all say
She was poison'd one day;
So how
many Lives has the Cat got?
12
Yes, it's true, people say
She was poison'd one day,
And very much
it shock'd her;
But the moment she felt ill, and before you
could
count ONE, TWO, THREE,
she was off to the Doctor.
13
How many Lives has the Cat got?
THREE!
But then the old wall
Crush'd her in its fall.
So how
many Lives has the Cat got?

14
Yes, I know the old wall
Flatten'd Puss in its fall,
And a dozen of
her fellows;
But Pussy walked sideways into the kitchen,
and
before you could count ONE, TWO,
THREE, blew herself out
with
the bellows.
15
How many Lives has the Cat got?
TWO!
But, bit by a dog,
She is dead as a log.
So how many
Lives has the Cat got?
16
Yes, bit by a dog,
But not dead as a log,
As you'll gladly find;
For
she climbed up the apple-tree before
you could count ONE, TWO, THREE,
and left the dog behind.
17
How many Lives has the Cat got?
ONE!
But then she's grown old,
And has caught a bad cold;
So
how many Lives has the Cat got?
18
Yes, she has grown old,
And has caught a bad cold,
Only bread and
milk she touches,
Except a little gruel, but she burns a great
deal of
fuel, and you may count,
ONE, TWO, THREE, a great many times,

while she hobbles across the room on her
crutches.
19

How many Lives has the Cat got?
NONE!
Is it true then, as they said,
That poor old Puss is dead,

So many lives as she'd got?
20
Yes, the song has all been said,
And poor