How I know Shakespeare Owned a Cat (or two)

Hang on, before I start this, I need to run to the bookshelf…

…okay, I’m back.  I have with me The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, a copy that is older than I am, as it lacks an ISBN  number.  Although old  and undated, I’m pretty sure things haven’t changed much.  Romeo and Juliet are still suicidal teenagers, Twelfth Night still has more cross-dressing than the Seattle Amtrak station, and MacBeth’s witches haven’t changed the recipe.

But can I find the ingredient list?  Here’s the dagger I see before me.  Not far enough into the play, the cooking segment is nearer the end.  Cats haven’t brought in a dagger that I’m aware of, and if they do, I’m leaving.  Here we go, Act IV.

“Thrice the brinded cat hath mew’d”  Yeah, if Bill’s cats only mew’d thrice he was lucky.  My two brinded cats mew’d a lot.  Especially when they’re hungry.

Poisoned Toad Entrails.  Haven’t seen those yet, thank goodness.

Fillet of a Fenny snake. Tara did catch a snake when we were out walking, prior to her fractured metatarsal and spay surgery.  A huge garter snake, nearly a foot long.  She just pounced into the bushes and came out with this snake.  Scared the jeebers out of both of us.

Eye of Newt. The Pacific Red salamander came in earlier this week, courtesy of one of the feline friends.  I named her Circe and put her in the terrarium with the frog.

Toe of Frog. The cats brought in the frog last week, as I pointed out in a previous blog.  I called Reptile Guy at the local pet shop when Circe turned up and asked if the two could live together.  He advised that the frog might eat the salamander.  Since Persephone is two inches long, max, and Circe is four or five without her tail, I’m thinking this isn’t going to be a problem.

Wool of Bat.  What the hell is “wool of bat” anyway?  Wool of sheep, okay.  Wool over my eyes, sure.  Wool of bat?  The cats have certainly brought in  their fair share of bats, see The Dark Night.  The last time LJ kitty brought in a bat, Rob threw them both out the back door, LJ still holding his prize.  At any rate, this ingredient isn’t a problem, if I can figure out what it is.

Tongue of dog. Ain’t no way  anyone’s taking out a dog tongue around here.  Although, the Skull of the Unknown Mammal could possibly be a baby coyote.  How about “skull of dog”?

The rest of the recipe isn’t so easy.  Adders, blind-worms, lizards, and howlets have yet to make their way through the dog door.  I don’t want to see a scale of dragon or gall of goat.

Unfortunately, we seem to be on track to brew up a really cool charm soup.   Maybe.

By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes…

J

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