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Show the cobra 1 J and "10 i A couple of days ago I was awakened rather rudely (2 a.m.) by what sounded like a fierce Viet Cong attack on our living room. This must have been during my REM sleep, because I distinctly remember being quite t-eed off about it all. The scholarly (and tired) part of my consciousness said: "To hell with whatever it is!" But, my puritannical conscience grew from a little voice to an obnoxious screaming in my ears and overcame my intellectual resignation. So I decided to investigate. I stumbled my way into the living room evaluating the situation with a few controlled and somewhat choice swear words' This was not with any resentful then, some day he would i learn the value of the principle upon which I had acted. I pointed out that not only was it possible, but that it was quite probable that our neighbor's dog might one day attack him. Then, the same principle would enable me to come to his rescue. He listened with a little more than disinterest actually, he was sucking on his tail. Whereupon, I lectured him upon the evils of ingratitude. I reminded him of the sacrifices I made daily so he could be happy. I compared his lot with the poor alley-cats "out there" and how rough "they" had it. I informed him that he was living in THE GREAT HOME. I got a bit carried away and told him about how I had walked fjve school. Nothing seemed J ' him. So, I chalked it J, generation-gap, decided V being stupid and Pjg.h ' fact, he was behaving j' animal. The thought had a , effect. It occurred to me t'' wife's liberal "supreiIlf; : decisions were cliPpjp. effectiveness in enforcing I of the house. Further liberalism was corrupt ! morals of the kittens. I x institute a more stringent and order" program alehouse ale-house the next day. Then concluded an "honorable C I went to sleep. vulgar intent or because of lack of self-control. No, on the contrary, it was part of a predetermined plan to let whoever it was out there know that he wasn't dealing with any pacifist. Anyway, the whole affair turned out to be a letdown. Oh, there had been a battle all right, but not quite what I had imagined. Apparently, the speed of our four-month-old kitten had overcome the hopping of a grasshopper. I noticed the ends of said juicy-green grasshopper sticking out from the sides of the cat's mouth. He (or more correctly "it") was sitting, facing the corner in the mistaken belief that if he couldn't see me I couldn't see him. Because I didn't want it said that Americans are selfish and don't help when they should etc., I decided to interfere. The cat protested this intrusion and refused to give up the grasshopper even after a few unkindly prods coupled with authoritative chastisement. (Spanking doesn't work, because then he won't eat. And, then, he will get sick. And then, I will have to pay the vet's bills. Believe me I've tried. I didn't take abnormal psych., for nothing.) Anyway, following some hasty experimentation I discovered that pressure systematically applied between his ears and his whiskers tended to relax his hold on the grasshopper. With this sophisticated technique I was able to rescue the above mentioned grasshopper from the above-mentioned cat. Other than for a few punctures about the abdominal area not much damage had been done. After bringing to the attention of the grasshopper the sign on our door which said, "Trespassers will be violated," I booted him out. However, I wasn't able to go back to sleep. The chagrined look on the cat's face had seemed like a forceful expression of "Yankee, go home!" I worried. I wondered' whether I had had any right to interfere. I mean, what right did I have to impose my morality (such as it is) upon the cat? He never objected to my eating chicken (other than to caterwaul for his share), so why should I object to his eating an obviously sumptuous-looking grasshopper? Having read Sen. William Fulbright's "The Arrogance of Power" and how power tends to confuse itself with virtue, I worried about becoming or rather . having become arrogant. After quite some deliberation I decided to discuss the situation with the cat. I explained to him .. that.. while. .he :i may, ( have been |