"Oh, the Beautiful Cat!"
"Too homely! But, then, he has charming eyes. But, if he was frightful, your interesting yourself in him would change him."
"He displeased me at first."
"The beings who displease at first are those one loves the most after awhile," replied Father Lustucru, sententiously.
They proceeded at once to make the toilet of the cat, who, in spite of his instinctive horror of water, submitted with touching resignation to being washed; he seemed to understand that it improved his personal appearance. After giving him a dish of broken meat, which he ate with great relish, they arranged the hours for his meals, the employment of his days, and the place where he was to sleep.
The Cat is washed.
They thought also to give him a name. Mother Michel and Father Lustucru proposed several that were quite happy, such as Mistigris, Tristepatte, etc.; but the Countess rejected them all successively. She desired a name that would recall the circumstances in which the cat was found. An old scholar, whom she consulted the next day, suggested that of Moumouth, composed of two Hebrew words which signify saved from saucepans.
The Cat grows Fat.