A calico cat in Taipei, chief city of the island of Taiwan. The cat’s fur is basically white, but she has dabs of black and amber, qualifying her as a calico cat. Field traced the germ of this poem to the Ithaca Kitty, a stuffed toy in the shape of a cat that went into production late in 1892.
Introduction
An Irish tale dating back to 1807 tells of two Cats of Kilkenny, who fought until nothing was left of them but their tails. In ‘The Duel’, a children’s rhyme by American writer Eugene Field, a dog and a cat took things a step further.
THE gingham dog* and the calico cat*
Side by side on the table sat;
’Twas half-past twelve, and (what do you think!)
Nor one nor t’other had slept a wink!
The old Dutch clock and the Chinese plate
Appeared to know as sure as fate
There was going to be a terrible spat.
(I wasn’t there; I simply state
What was told to me by the Chinese plate!)
The gingham dog went “bow-wow-wow!”
And the calico cat replied “mee-ow!”
The air was littered, an hour or so,
With bits of gingham and calico,
While the old Dutch clock in the chimney-place
Up* with its hands before its face,
For it always dreaded a family row!
(Now mind; I’m only telling you
What the old Dutch clock declares is true!)
* There is no such thing as a gingham dog. Gingham is a simple pattern of small squares (or ‘checks’) printed on cloth. Field has invented the term to balance ‘calico cat’, since calico is also a kind of cloth.
* Calico, named after the city of Calicut in southwestern India, is properly speaking an unbleached and undyed cotton cloth in its natural state. From the seventeenth-century, exports of cotton to Europe began to rise, and manufacturers printed cheerful patterns on their calico, which thus came to be associated with bright colours on a plain background. Cats with plain white fur blotched with two or more strong colours (often amber and dark brown) have borrowed the name. Calico cats are relatively unusual and nearly always female. They have a reputation for being feisty. On the Calico Acts, see Picking on Cotton.
* The past form of ‘up’ is usually ‘upped’.
Précis
In Eugene Field’s children’s rhyme, a festering feud between a cat and a dog became a savage night-time fight. Relying on the eyewitness testimony of a clock and a plate that decorated the room, Filed told how there was a bark and a mew, and then a no-holds-barred mutual assault that saw the fur fly. (55 / 60 words)
In Eugene Field’s children’s rhyme, a festering feud between a cat and a dog became a savage night-time fight. Relying on the eyewitness testimony of a clock and a plate that decorated the room, Filed told how there was a bark and a mew, and then a no-holds-barred mutual assault that saw the fur fly.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 60 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 50 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, besides, despite, may, must, until, whereas, whether.
Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Post Box : Ask Nicholas
Grok : Ask Grok
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