Characters in Books III

(Said the Cat) " Do you play croquet with the Queen today?"

"I should like it very much," said Alice, "but I haven't been invited yet."

"You'll see me there," said the Cat, and vanished.

Alice was not very much surprised at this, she was getting so well used to queer things happening.  While she was still looking at the place where it had been, it suddenly appeared again.

"By-the-bye, what became of the baby?" said the Cat.  "I'd nearly forgotten to ask."

"It turned into a pig," Alice answered very quietly, just as if the Cat had come back in a natural way.

"I thought it would," said the Cat and vanished again.

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I have always loved the famous Cheshire Cat - its curious behaviour, seemingly so cat-like - so beautifully drawn by Sir John Tenniel and its brilliant creation by Lewis Carroll.  And its capacity to vanish, might just bring to mind the Cat in Animal Farm which, after the animals - or more strictly-speaking, the pigs - had taken over, appeared only at meal-times!

While thinking about this short piece I scanned others' illustrations of this mythic beast and found them very poor stuff indeed, so I conclude without further comment, just more Tenniel:

Until the next time.