(Cat’s paw prints on fifteenth-century
manuscript in the State Archives of Dubrovnik, photographed by Emir O. Filipović; found here)
(Worse than paw prints! In about 1420 a
scribe in Deventer, the Netherlands, returned one morning to continue work on
his manuscript to discover a cat had weed on it! In a rage, the scribe drew a
picture of the cat and wrote ‘Hic non defectus est, sed cattus minxit desuper
nocte quadam. Confundatur pessimus cattus qui minxit super librum ostum in
nocte Daventrie, et consimiliter omnes alii propter illum. Et cavendum valde ne
permittantur libri aperti per noctem uni cattie venire possunt’ – Here nothing is missing, but a cat urinated
on this during the night. Cursed be the pesky cat that urinated over this book
during the night in Deventer and because of it many others [other cats] too.
And take very good care not to leave books open at night where cats can come.
Cologne, Historisches Archiv, G.B. quarto, 249, fol. 68r, found here)
What were cats doing in mediaeval libraries anyway? Read this post to find out... It contains a link to this charming ninth-century Irish poem, translated by Robin Flowers:
The Scholar and his Cat, Pangur Bán
I and Pangur Bán my cat,
’Tis a like task we are at:
Hunting mice is his delight,
Hunting words I sit all night.Better far than praise of men
’Tis to sit with book and pen;
Pangur bears me no ill-will,
He too plies his simple skill.’Tis a merry task to see
At our tasks how glad are we,
When at home we sit and find
Entertainment to our mind.Oftentimes a mouse will stray
In the hero Pangur's way;
Oftentimes my keen thought set
Takes a meaning in its net.’Gainst the wall he sets his eye
Full and fierce and sharp and sly;
’Gainst the wall of knowledge I
All my little wisdom try.When a mouse darts from its den,
O how glad is Pangur then!
O what gladness do I prove
When I solve the doubts I love!So in peace our task we ply,
Pangur Bán, my cat, and I;
In our arts we find our bliss,
I have mine and he has his.Practice every day has made
Pangur perfect in his trade;
I get wisdom day and night
Turning darkness into light.
(Picture of cats and rats from unidentified mediaeval manuscript)