The Random House Book of Fantasy Stories Quotes

“Chorus for a Cat

I will never subject be,
I am free.
Try to curb me and, no doubt,
You'll find out
Just exactly what a claw
Is for!
Or I'll dematerialize
Before your eyes:
Ere you lay a finger on
Me, I'm gone!
You may think I'm in the lane;
Think again!
You may guess I'm on the roof;
Any proof?
I am not to hold or bind,
Or find.
I will hunt and sing and fight
In the night.
All day long I lie and doze,
Comatose:
Never answer when you call
And bawl.
If to order me you choose,
You will lose.
Try to understand my mind
And you'll find
Truest friendship I will give
While I live;
Kindly amiability,
And sympathy.
If subservience you prefer,
Buy a cur!”
― Nicholas Stuart Gray, The Random House Book of Fantasy Stories