SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.
[Noties in this column doss not necessorilY preduils subsequent reuicts.]
Here is a Rumanian folk-tale which explains why cats always like to lie and bask on the doorstep :— "When Noah bad built the ark, he kept the door wide open for the animals to enter. After they had all gone in, his own family came, and last of all his wife. Noah snid to her, 'Come in.' She obstinately said 'No.' Noah again raid 'Come in.' She again said 'No.' Noah, getting angry, said Oh, you devil, come in.' That was just what the devil was waiting for. Getting into the ark he changed himself into a mouse. When the 'devil has nothing to do he weighs his tail. But here he found plenty to do, for, he thought, now is an opportunity of putting an end to the whole of God's creatures. So he started gnawing on one of the planks, trying to make a hole in it. When Noah surprised him at this devilish work he threw his fur glove at him. It turned into a cat, and in the twinkling of an eye the mouse was in the mouth of the cat. But Noah could not allow the peace of the ark to be broken, so he seized the cat, with the mouse in her mouth, and flung her out of the ark into the water. The cat swam to the ark and, getting hold of the doorstop, climbed on to the sill and lay down there to bask in the sun; There she remained until the water had subsided : and ever since then, the cat likes to lie on the doorstep of the house and bask in the sun."
A large collection of stories like this one will be found in Rumanian Bird and Beast Stories, translated into English by Dr. M. Gaster (Sidgwick •and Jackson, for the Folk-Lore Society, 10s. 6d. net), who has also written an interesting and learned introduction to them.
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