A Frenchwoman at Billancourt was cooking an omelette when a black cat strayed into the cottage and sat down near the hearth to watch the operation. At the critical moment the cat cried out, "The omelette is done on that side. Turn it." The old woman was indignant at this aspersion on her culinary knowledge and she flung the half-cooked omelette at the cat, striking the animal's face. The next morning she had the satisfaction of seeing a deep red burn on the cheek of an evil-minded neighbour.
A woman whose children were always ailing, lived in the village of Ceyreste near to Ciotat. As soon as one child recovered another fell ill, and their mother was in despair, because she could not account for their ailments.
One day, one of her neighbours said, "Do you know, I feel sure your mother-in-law is injuring the health of your little ones. She may be a witch."
The woman spoke to her husband about the matter, and they decided to watch over their children carefully to see whether their illness was due to evil influence.
One night they were watching without appearing to do so, when suddenly a black cat approached the cradle of one of the children, moving with stealth and quite silently. The husband raised a stick he had picked up for the purpose and struck the animal violently, intending to kill it. But the blow was not carefully aimed and he only succeeded in crushing one of the evil animal's paws. With a bound it escaped him.
For a day or two afterwards nothing was seen of the children's grandmother, who usually came on a visit every day to inquire after the health of her grandchildren.
Then the neighbour said, "She is hiding something from you. Go and see why she does not come."
The husband followed her advice and went to see his mother, whom he found with her hand bound up, and in an extremely bad temper. He pretended not to see that she had been hurt, and he asked her in the most natural tone he could summon, why she had not been to visit them as usual.
"Whatever should I come to your house for?" she asked angrily. "Look at the state of my fingers. If I had been struck by a hatchet instead of a stick, my fingers would have been cut off and I should have nothing left but a stump."[126]