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Cat Forum / Cat Anecdotes / November 2007cats composing songs in mediaeval Iraq
From the Kitab al-Aghani of Abu al-Faraj al-Isbahani (d.967), a vast treatise on music in 24 volumes and 10,000 pages: One day Ibrahim al-Mawsili [d.804, chief court musician to Harun al-Rashid] longed for a cellar of his. In it there was a pond to which water was fed from a source and from which the water then flowed to a garden. Ibrahim said: "I wish to spend my day drinking in this cellar, and sleep in it at night". This he did. And while he was asleep in the middle of the night, two cats, one white and one black, came down the cellar step. One said to the other, "Do you see him asleep?", then the black one said, "Yes, he is". At this point the black cat burst forth, performing a song in her best voice. Ibrahim at this point nearly died of happiness and said, "I wish they would repeat it". So they did repeat it, many times, until he learned it. He then moved in his sleep, and the two cats left. ============== j-c ====== @ ====== purr . demon . co . uk ============== Jack Campin: 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland | tel 0131 660 4760 <http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack/> for CD-ROMs and free | fax 0870 0554 975 stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, & Mac logic fonts | mob 07800 739 557 > At > this point the black cat burst forth, performing a song in her best > voice. Ibrahim at this point nearly died of happiness and said, > "I wish they would repeat it". So they did repeat it, many times, > until he learned it. He then moved in his sleep, and the two cats > left. What a beautiful little tale. Thanks for posting it, Jack. I wonder what the black cat's best voice sounded like? :-)) Deb.  Signaturehttp://www.scientific-art.com "He looked a fierce and quarrelsome cat, but claw he never would; He only bit the ones he loved, because they tasted good." S. Greenfield >What a beautiful little tale. Thanks for posting it, Jack. I wonder what >the black cat's best voice sounded like? :-)) My mental picture is of a black cat having a rich contralto voice. The other would probably have been a clear soprano; I'd say even something like one of the girls from the Celtic Women PBS specials, but then I'm roaming too far off the map. Blessed be, Baha > My mental picture is of a black cat having a rich contralto voice. The other > would probably have been a clear soprano; I'd say even something like one of > the girls from the Celtic Women PBS specials, but then I'm roaming too far > off the map. :-))) LOL, that certainly complements the story's imagery. Now, what was the song, and why did they sing it to him when they knew he was sleeping? No wait, I know the answer to that - they were cats :-) Deb. Signaturehttp://www.scientific-art.com "He looked a fierce and quarrelsome cat, but claw he never would; He only bit the ones he loved, because they tasted good." S. Greenfield >> My mental picture is of a black cat having a rich contralto voice. >> The other would probably have been a clear soprano; I'd say even [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Deb. I suspect this story is not true since the cats did not wake the man and demand to be fed. Andy |
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