Wednesday, March 3, 2010

9+ lives

A very long time ago, an Irish monk took a break from transcription practice to write an ode to his constant companion, a cat named Pangur Bán. It compares the author's search for knowledge to the cat's hunt for mice - work that they seem to joyfully do in each other's company.
So in peace our tasks we ply,
Pangur Ban, my cat, and I;
In our arts we find our bliss,
I have mine and he has his.
It's a lovely little poem and through it, Pangur has become one of the most famous individual cats in history. No surprise then, that he has now found the sort of immortality the cats of ancient Egypt could have only dreamed of...the monk's little white mouser has been included in a beautiful new animated film called The Secret of Kells.



The film is up for an Oscar this year and will be in limited U.S. release starting March 12th.

p.s. Be sure to check out the clip where Pangur and the fairy Aisling save the day!

6 comments:

On a Wing and a Whim said...

That is incredibly cute! Thanks for letting us know about it!

New Jovian Thunderbolt said...

swoon

Heath J said...

It's funny, but I just read that poem in a book called "How the Irish saved Civilization". Cute

Old NFO said...

Interesting, I never knew that. thanks for the lesson!

jdege said...

On the topic of cat poetry, I always liked:

Cat

The fat cat on the mat
may seem to dream
of nice mice that suffice
for him, or cream;
but he free, maybe,
walks in thought
unbowed, proud, where loud
roared and fought
his kin, lean and slim,
or deep in den
in the East feasted on beasts
and tender men.
The giant lion with iron
claw in paw,
and huge ruthless tooth
in gory jaw;
the pard dark-starred,
fleet upon feet,
that oft soft from aloft
leaps upon his meat
where woods loom in gloom --
far now they be,
fierce and free,
and tamed is he;
but fat cat on the mat
kept as a pet
he does not forget.

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

Joanna said...

I'm often reminded that the purring furry lump in my lap is a carnivore, and only pretending to be domesticated so she'll be fed. The reminder is usually her teeth in my arm.

I can't see the video (stupid work Interweb filters) but the Wikipedia article is promising. I'll have to check this out.