Edited by Richard Walker, Sunday, 1 Apr 2018, 01:33
Looking for amusing animal names the other day, I remembered Shaun the Sheep, and Attila the Hen. After torturing my brains a bit they (my brains, not Shaun or Attila) finally came up with Vlad the Impala, and then in a sudden rush, Belle the Cat.
But then I realised I had absolutely no idea at all what the expression “Bell the Cat” meant. Not a clue.
It turns out it’s a fable. Occasionally it’s been suggested it goes back to Aesop, but it seems this isn't so, and the earliest record of it is from the 16c or 17c. The story goes like this.
One day the mice called a meeting to debate what they could do about a cat that was hunting them. A young and innovatory mouse came up with a really bright idea. “Let's hang a bell round the cat's neck”, he said modestly, “and then we shall be able to hear her coming, and run away”.
(You can see the utter brilliance of this suggestion, and of course many cat owners of today put collars with bells on their cats, precisely so birds will be warned by the cat’s approach.)
The mice gasped. At a stroke they could be free from fear. Cheers rang out!
But then an old and rather grumpy mouse piped up. “All very well”, she said, “but who will put the bell on the cat? It's not a job I’d fancy.”
Belle the Cat
Looking for amusing animal names the other day, I remembered Shaun the Sheep, and Attila the Hen. After torturing my brains a bit they (my brains, not Shaun or Attila) finally came up with Vlad the Impala, and then in a sudden rush, Belle the Cat.
But then I realised I had absolutely no idea at all what the expression “Bell the Cat” meant. Not a clue.
It turns out it’s a fable. Occasionally it’s been suggested it goes back to Aesop, but it seems this isn't so, and the earliest record of it is from the 16c or 17c. The story goes like this.
One day the mice called a meeting to debate what they could do about a cat that was hunting them. A young and innovatory mouse came up with a really bright idea. “Let's hang a bell round the cat's neck”, he said modestly, “and then we shall be able to hear her coming, and run away”.
(You can see the utter brilliance of this suggestion, and of course many cat owners of today put collars with bells on their cats, precisely so birds will be warned by the cat’s approach.)
The mice gasped. At a stroke they could be free from fear. Cheers rang out!
But then an old and rather grumpy mouse piped up. “All very well”, she said, “but who will put the bell on the cat? It's not a job I’d fancy.”
And neither did anyone else.