FABLE [21] XXI. The Rat-catcher and Cats. John Gay Alexander Huber Editor Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
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Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive
Taylor Institution Library St Giles' Oxford OX1 3NA UK info@eighteenthcenturypoetry.org https://www.eighteenthcenturypoetry.org/
Oxford This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. T13818 Gay, John, 1685-1732. FABLES. By Mr. GAY. London Printed for J. Tonson and J. Watts, MDCCXXVII. 1727 pp. 70-73. [14],173,[1]p.: ill.; 4°.

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FABLE [ 21 ] XXI . The Rat-catcher and Cats . The rats by night such mischief did , Betty was ev'ry morning chid : They undermin'd whole sides of bacon , Her cheese was sapp'd , her tarts were taken , Her pastys , fenc'd with thickest paste , Were all demolish'd and laid waste . She curst the cat for want of duty , Who left her foes a constant booty . An Engineer , of noted skill , Engag'd to stop the growing ill . From room to room he now surveys Their haunts , their works , their secret ways , Finds where they 'scape an ambuscade , And whence the nightly sally's made . An envious Cat , from place to place , Unseen , attends his silent pace , She saw that , if his trade went on , The purring race must be undone , So , secretly removes his baits , And ev'ry stratagem defeats . Again he sets the poyson'd toils , And puss again the labour foils . What foe ( to frustrate my designs ) My schemes thus nightly countermines ? Incens'd , he crys : this very hour The wretch shall bleed beneath my power . So said . A pond'rous trap he brought , And in the fact poor puss was caught . Smuggler , says he , thou shalt be made A victim to our loss of trade . The captive Cat with piteous mews For pardon , life and freedom sues . A sister of the science spare , One int'rest is our common care . What insolence ! the man reply'd , Shall cats with us the game divide ? Were all your interloping band Extinguish'd , or expell'd the land , We rat-catchers might raise our fees , Sole guardians of a nation's cheese ! A Cat , who saw the lifted knife , Thus spoke , and sav'd her sister's life . In ev'ry age and clime we see , Two of a trade can ne'er agree , Each hates his neighbour for encroaching ; Squire stigmatizes squire for poaching ; Beautys with beautys are in arms , And scandal pelts each other's charms ; Kings too their neighbour kings dethrone , In hope to make the world their own . But let us limit our desires , Not war like beautys , kings and squires , For though we both one prey pursue , There's game enough for us and you .