Translated from the Meowish
Copyright October 1978
Long ago, on the island of Corfu in
Greece, there lived a black cat named Poulos who made his home among the
fishermen. It was said that on the darkest nights when the stars were hidden, a
fisherman who was down on his luck could be lamenting and fingering worry beads
when suddenly someone would knock the worry beads out of his hand and replace
them with an impetuous head needing a pat. It would be Poulos, rubbing his head
against the fisherman‘s palm and purring to him songs of confidence. The
fisherman could then take Poulos out on the fishing excursion, and the catch
that night would be large.
Around his neck, Poulos wore a
leather strap which had been encircled by a jeweler’s silver chain with a
golden coin attached. The collar was a gift from someone Poulos had helped, and
when, occasionally, he got the collar stuck around one ear, the coin over one eye
made him look like a pirate. So great was his legend that no one ever dreamed
of taking the golden coin or the silver chain for themselves; his presence
alone seemed to assure their survival and change of luck from the poorest of
circumstances.
Sometimes Poulos, rubbing his head against a
boat’s tiller, would pretend to get his collar stuck in the tiller until a
small boat was set on course for the “fishiest” waters. Who could smell better
than a cat where the fishiest waters were? Encountering tourists and charming
them when not on the sea, Poulos would also, essentially, give the tourists a
tour of his favorite restaurants, churches, and marinas.
Paulos appeared in uncountable
tourists’ sketches, paintings, and—later—photographs of Corfu. His name also came to mean good luck or “the
cat riding with you,” so that even today Greek names usually end with the “poulos”
suffix. It comes from those days when nearly everyone fished for a living, and
people vied over whom Poulos might ride with next. And even today it is said in
Greece that people who insist upon fingering worry beads have simply never
ridden the deep waters on a dark night with a good cat.
Epilogue: By the way, should you get to visit Corfu
someday, don’t forget to visit nearby Mouse Island, which was named for the
staircase leading up to the Pantokrator Monastery. At a distance from the sea
the staircase resembles a mouse’s tail. Cats who are descendants of some of the
best friends Poulos often visited by sea still live there and delight in passing
on his legend.
Readers: Here are some
key words from the story as they would appear in Greek. If they seem to resemble
words in Russian in the former story, there’s a good reason. The Russian
alphabet is called the Cyrillic alphabet
after Saint Cyril, who lived in the ninth century and is said to have devised
it, along with the help of Saint Methodius who had earlier developed the Glagolitic
alphabet. These two Byzantine brothers, in order to capture the 31 sounds of
spoken Russian, used both Greek and Roman characters.
1. Cat………. Γάτα (GOT-UH) Gáta
2. Fish ……….ψάρι (PUH-SOD-EE) psári
3. Fisherman……….ψαράς ((PUH-SOD-UZ) psarás
4. Boat……….βάρκα (VAR-KUH) várka
5. Collar……….περιλαίμιο (PEAR-UH-LAME-EE-O) perilaímio
6. Beads……….χάντρες (CON-DRAYS) chántres
7. Restaurant……….εστιατόριο (ES-TEE-AH-TORE-EE-O)
estiatório
8. Church……….εκκλησία (AY-KLEE-SEE-UH) ekklisía
9. Marina……….μαρίνα (MUH-REE-NUH) marina
10. Photograph………. Φωτογραφία (FOE-TOE-GRAPH-EE-UH)
fotografía
11. Mouse……….ποντίκι (PONE-TEE-KEY) pontíki
12. Island………. Νησί (NEE-SEE) nisi
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