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Cats leave their mark on centuries of books

Paw presentation ... marks on 1445 ‘Lettere e commissioni di Levante’. Photograph: Emir Filipović

Artykuł - źródło: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2013/apr/05/

cats-mark-centuries-books-15th-century/print

Tłumaczenie słówek na końcu artykułu.

Evidence of feline interference in a 15th-century manuscript

reminds us of how big an impression they've made on literature

as a whole.

Emir Filipović, an academic at the University of Sarajevo, was researching his

PhD in the Dubrovnik State Archives when he stumbled across a medieval

talian manuscript from 11 March 1445, from "the 13th volume of a series

of archival registers called 'Lettere e commissioni di Levante'".

Doesn't sound that exciting, does it? But the discovery has placed Filipović

at the centre of a social media whirl – because the medieval manuscript

was stained with inky cat paw prints. I dropped Filipović a line, and he says

he's still surprised at how popular the photograph has proved to be

("Cats - walking all over your shit since the 15th century", says a Reddit post).

"I think that one of the main reasons why people seemed to have a positive

response to it is down to the fact that it makes you imagine the scene in your

head when the cat jumped onto the book. This especially appeals to cat owners,

who are, I suppose, familiar with such typical cases, but also to people who do

not own pets sincethey can still identify with the unfortunate scribe," Filipović says.

"One other important thing is that some people seem to equate the past times

with history as a (boring) school subject focused primarily on politics and wars.

They forget that the past was full of 'normal' everyday events, just like today,

and a picture such as the one with the cat pawprints tends to remind everybody

that people who lived in the past were not much different than ourselves.

Na zdjęciu jeden z naszych rodzinnych kotów o imieniu Teodor - zdjęcie ze strony Facebook poświęconej

moim kotom: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Annas-cats/548688108490298

I think that's spot-on – those of us with cats know exactly how annoying/endearing

it is to have a purring feline trying to climb onto our keyboards while we're working,

and I just love the thought of a medieval scribe being equally irritated. If not more

– at least we can just delete.

Could it also be down to the fact that cats and literature, as Filipović puts it in

a blogpost about his discovery, make a good combination? I'm now trying to think

of my favourite literary cats, and I'm swamped with choice. Obviously there's the

Cheshire Cat, but thinking of children's literature makes me remember how much

I adored Barbara Sleigh's Carbonel books, and Paul Gallico's Jennie, as a child

– and as a parent how much I am now enjoying Lynley Dodd's Slinky Malinki books.

("Slinky Malinki was blacker than black, a stalking and lurking adventurous cat.")

Dodd comes up with some great names for her feline creations –

Butterball Brown, Pimpernel Pugh, Greywacke Jones – but obviously,

no one beats TS Eliot whenit comes to the Naming of Cats. Mr Mistoffelees,

old Deuteronomy, Rum Tum Tugger, Skimbleshanks – and my personal

favourite, Macavity. I'll leave you with a few lines to whet your appetite.

Macavity's a Mystery Cat: he's called the Hidden Paw -For he's

the master criminal who can defy the Law.He's the bafflement of

Scotland Yard, the Flying Squad's despair:For when they reach

the scene of crime – Macavity's not there!Macavity, Macavity,

there's no one like Macavity,He's broken every human law, he

breaks the law of gravity.

Just brilliant. And please do share your own favourite literary

cats – it's a purrfect way to spend Friday morning…

Vocabulary:

feline – kot, koci

stumble across – natknąć się

bafflement – zmieszanie, zauroczenie

medieval – średniowieczny

scribe - skryba

adore - uwielbiać

whirl – wir

stalk - śledzić

stain – plama

lurk – czaić się

drop a line – napisać do

swamp (with choice) – mieć zbyt duży wybór

equate – wyrównać, przyrównać

annoying – drażniący

ink – atrament

endearing – uroczy, ujmujący

whet appetite - zaostrzyć apetyt

purr - mruczeć

defy law - dziłać wbrew prawu

purrfect way - tu: zabawa słowem 'purr'

Zdjęcia - źródła: http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2013/

apr/05/cats-mark-centuries-books-15th-century/print

oraz

moja strona FB: Anna's Cats: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Annas-cats/

548688108490298

#kot #średniowiecze #historia