Introduction
In a pamphlet published in 1815, the anonymous authors took a look at British zoology, aiming (they said) to amuse, to instruct and “to look through Nature up to Nature’s God”. The collection of anecdotes about cats included this remarkable story, a tale of stubborn determination worthy of Robert the Bruce’s famous spider.
IN 1810, a cat was carried by a lady from Edinburgh to Glasgow in a close carriage, and was carefully watched for two months; at the end of that period, she produced two kittens, and was then left to her own discretion, which she employed by disappearing with her kittens.
The Glasgow lady wrote to her friend at Edinburgh, deploring her loss, and puss was supposed to have sought some new abode; until about a fortnight after her non-appearance at Glasgow, her well-known mew was heard at the door of her former mistress in Edinburgh, where she was discovered with her young offspring; they in the best condition, she being very thin and poor.
Précis
In 1810, a lady took a cat from a friend’s house in Edinburgh to Glasgow. She dutifully kept the cat indoors for two months, during which time her new pet had two kittens; but as soon as vigilance was relaxed, cat and kittens vanished, only to turn up in Edinburgh a fortnight later with the mother looking decidedly road-weary. (59 / 60 words)
In 1810, a lady took a cat from a friend’s house in Edinburgh to Glasgow. She dutifully kept the cat indoors for two months, during which time her new pet had two kittens; but as soon as vigilance was relaxed, cat and kittens vanished, only to turn up in Edinburgh a fortnight later with the mother looking decidedly road-weary.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: because, besides, just, may, must, otherwise, whereas, whether.
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