Why Cats Have Nine Lives

You love your fluffy friend, don't you? Have you heard this legend?

The Complaint

Once, in the heavenly realm of the gods, the Collector of Souls appeared. He looked extremely displeased.

"I have come to file a complaint! For many years I have faced the same riddle. I open a person's book of life and see that every entry is in order. When the appointed hour comes, I go for their soul, take it, and head upward. But when we reach the heavenly gates and I turn around, it turns out that beside me stands not a person, but a cat. I open the book of life again and see the impossible: the person I went for is alive, and a cat has taken their place. And over time, this happens more and more often."

What the Books Revealed

The Collector's words troubled the gods, and they ordered him to bring the books. The more pages they turned, the heavier the silence grew. Little by little, the truth began to emerge.

It turned out that cats possess a secret gift that no one had suspected. If a person was truly close and dear to them, they could foresee approaching death. Then they chose to take the misfortune upon their own shoulders and take that person's place. No one asked them to, and no one commanded them.

When the gods learned this, they began to argue. Some were indignant at the breaking of the order of things; others could not take their eyes off the pages. Cats were giving their only life for the one they loved.

The Gods' Decision

Then the wisest of the gods spoke.

"It is not right that a being with such a heart should have only one life."

A long council followed. At its end, the gods made a decision that no animal had ever been honored with before: they gave cats eight more lives. Not for strength, not for power, not for immortality, but because it turned out that one life is too little for the love they are capable of.

For a cat does not live with a person by chance. She carefully chooses to whom she will give her freedom, and she brings far more than softness and comfort. That is why, according to some beliefs, offending a cat is dangerous not for the cat, but for the person.

True or not, the legend is still told today. Do you have a story about your own cat? Write it in your journal today.